To Dance Beneath the Diamond Sky
by Kristen Elizabeth
Summary: AU- "We haven't been to the ballet in...way too long."
1. Coming to America

Disclaimer: The characters are not mine. However, the plot of this particular yarn is because it came from my brain;)   
  
Author's Notes: My second attempt at an alternate universe. Anyone who knows me knows that the standard couples apply (1xR, 2xH, 3x4, 5xS, 6x9). And, despite the story's subject matter, Quatre and Trowa will be the only yaoi couple in this entire fic, all the way through. Ballet is something that was important to me for nine years. I just never realized it until I quit. Writing this story is bringing it all back to me. Whether or not you like it or think that male dancers are fruity or whatever...I hope you'll read and enjoy. And perhaps relieve some memories of your own, or commiserate if you're a dancer now;)  
  
Dedication: To Melissa, one of the truest and dearest friends I have ever had. As long as you have a song in your heart and your old jazz shoes in your closet, you will always be a dancer  
  
****  
  
To Dance Beneath the Diamond Sky  
by Kristen Elizabeth  
  
****  
  
Dance isn't something that can be explained in words; it has to be danced. -Paige Arden   
  
To dance is to be out of yourself, larger, more powerful, more beautiful. This is power, it is glory on earth and it is yours for the taking. -Agnes de Mille   
  
****  
  
"Hi everyone!" Hilde Scheibeker strode into the open practice studio with the confident grace of a modest queen.   
  
"Hi!"  
  
"Hey there!"   
  
"Hi Hilde!!"  
  
Amidst the greetings from her fellow students, Hilde tossed her exercise bag against the mirrored wall after plucking her pointe shoes from it, and started for her usual place at the barre. He was already there, waiting for her.   
  
"Saved your spot, gorgeous." Duo Maxwell winked at his girlfriend. "You're late."  
  
Hilde gave him a quick kiss. "My mom is making me go to tutoring in the one free hour I have left in my life." She sat on the wood floor to lace up her shoes. "She says that I'll never get into a good college if I don't."   
  
Duo plopped down beside her. "You did tell her you weren't planning to go, right?"  
  
"Of course." Hilde looped the pink ribbons around her ankle. "She has selective hearing. It didn't register."  
  
He reached for her other foot, to help speed up the process. "New shoes? It's gonna be a bitch to break them in this late, babe."  
  
"Should I have let the other pair fall apart on me in the middle of the pas de deux?"  
  
"Well..." Duo flexed her foot with his strong hands. "I would've paid to see the look on your partner's face, anyways."  
  
Hilde poked him with one satin pointe. "Speaking of Heero, where is he?"  
  
A loud eruption of giggles and high-pitched greetings from the other girls in the company gave Hilde her answer. She looked at the double doors in time to see Heero Yuy enter, wearing the same black shirt, black tights combination as Duo. He ignored the simpering girls and went to his own place at the barre.   
  
"And he's off." Duo shook his head as Heero began his warm-up routine. "He's such a tight-ass. Even for a dancer."  
  
Hilde laughed and stood up. "Better not let anyone else hear you talk about his ass." She winced as she raised up onto her toes. Duo grabbed her waist for support. "I'm okay," she assured him.   
  
He gave her a doubtful look. "I think I'll be making a midnight trip to Brooklyn with bandages and antiseptic."   
  
"Why don't you just make the trip...?" She used the extra height being on pointe afforded her to kiss his forehead. There was a glint of promise in her blue eyes that Duo picked up on immediately. He returned the kiss just as the double doors opened again. Their instructor and choreographer entered with a young, blond girl in the standard black leotard and pink tights.   
  
A girl next to Hilde sighed. "Mr. Treize gets better looking every day." Hilde wrinkled up her nose. Their instructor, Treize Kushrenada was many things...the son of a rumored Russian defector, an accomplished cavalier dancer, a disciplined teacher and a notorious ladies man...but she wasn't quite sure she'd ever add "sexy" to his list of qualities.   
  
The class continued to chat as Treize said a few words to their choreographer, Lucrezia Noin and the new dancer. Hilde found herself admiring the girl's honey blond hair, pulled into a thick knot at the base of her slender neck. Her own hair was short, black and curly and could only be held off her face by several clips.   
  
Her eyes drifted over to her pas de deux partner as he continued his pre-class exercises. She smiled in exasperation. From the moment he entered the studio to the moment he left it, Heero's focus never wavered. Of course, that's what it took to be the best dancer at the Ballet Conservatory. She should know. They were partners for a reason.  
  
At the front of the room, Treize clapped his hands for his classes' attention. Even Heero lowered his leg and listened. "Good afternoon," he greeted them. "Before we begin today, I have some good news and some bad news. First, the bad news."  
  
"That is so like him," Duo snorted.   
  
Treize continued. "Mary Backer has been moved from this class to one more...suited for her abilities."  
  
Duo's head shot up from readjusting the strap on his soft, black shoe. "What about Mary?"   
  
"They've moved her." Hilde bit her lip. "I'm sorry, Duo."  
  
"Great!" he whispered harshly. "Nice of them to tell me I'd be losing my partner!"   
  
"Well....I mean, she wasn't exactly..." Hilde phrased her thoughts carefully. "She was a little...okay, *way* behind on technique, Duo."   
  
Duo scowled. "Don't pull the prima donna stuff, babe."  
  
She bristled. "I'm not! I'm just saying that..."  
  
"Miss Scheibeker, Mr. Maxwell." Treize folded his arms over his broad chest. "Do you have something you'd like to share with the class?" Both teenagers shook their heads, but only Hilde felt the sting of the reprimand. Duo's violet eyes were still narrowed.   
  
"With Miss Backer's departure comes the good news," Treize went on. He put a hand on the new girl's shoulder. "Class, I'd like you to meet Relena Dorlian, our new student."   
  
****  
  
All twenty-nine members of the prestigious Ballet Conservatory's most advanced class watched her with cool, curious stares. Relena swallowed and fought to keep her hands from trembling. She'd never been very good in front of a crowd; it was for this exact reason that her mother had pushed her into ballet at an early age. But she felt none of the grace and presence that dancing was supposed to have given her. Rather, she felt extremely out of place. A duckling amongst the swans.   
  
Relena searched the room for a friendly eye. She saw aloof detachment or vague resentment in most of the girls; a few arched eyebrows and interested once-overs from some of the guys, but boredom from the male dancers who had their arms casually slung over another male dancer. There was a flash of sympathetic violet in the back of the room. It prompted at least a smile from Relena.   
  
Her smile fell when her gaze settled on a hard glare of Prussian blue. The dancer behind the stare looked away, not too quickly to denote shyness, but not slow enough to indicate that he enjoyed looking at her. Relena picked up nothing from him beyond a physical description. Of course, when she took into account his great physique, it didn't seem to really matter.   
  
She found herself blushing in front of the entire class. Behind her, Lucrezia Noin patted her arm in reassurance. Relena was intensely grateful for the presence of her brother's fiancee.   
  
"Miss Dorlian comes to us from Theatre Ballet in Paris where she has been studying for the past year," Treize announced. There were no sounds of awe, only eyes rolled skyward and faint snorts. "She will take Miss Backer's place as Mr. Maxwell's pas de deux partner."   
  
The dancer with the violet eyes grinned at Relena. The petite, dark-haired girl beside him crossed her arms over her leotard. Relena felt Treize push her forward. "There's plenty of room on the back barre with your partner," he told her.   
  
A red-haired girl on the barre in question raised her hand. "Actually Mr. Treize, we're cramped as it is back here. Maybe you could find another place for her?" There was the slightest hint of a sneer in her voice.   
  
Relena looked down at her pink satin pointe shoes. A hot lump settled into her throat. Moving from an entirely different country wasn't nearly so hard as starting over in a new dance class. Fortunately, Treize had no intention of allowing the students to run his class.  
  
"In that case," he began. "Miss Scheibeker, move up to the front barre and take the empty space next to Mr. Yuy. You two really ought to be stretching together, anyway. Miss Dorlian, you take Miss Scheibeker's place."   
  
The dark-haired girl threw the boy beside her, who had a long braid of hair trailing down his back that Relena could see when he turned, a mournful look, but did as the instructor asked. Relena passed her on the way to the back barre and received a rather cold look. Doing her best to ignore it, Relena took her place beside her new pas de deux partner.  
  
"Hey," he greeted her with a wink. "I'm Duo."  
  
Relena shook his hand with great hesitation. "It's a pleasure to meet you."  
  
"All right everyone. We'll begin with the usual routine. Two demi-plies and a grand in first, second, fourth and fifth. Full port de bra forward, sideways and back." Treize pointed to the pianist and light music filled the room.  
  
Duo's muscled back faced Relena as they started the stretches. "So, Paris, eh?"  
  
She waited until she was well into her grand plie before replying. "Yes. I miss it." As she rose back up, she frowned at his thick braid of hair. "Doesn't that get in your way?"  
  
"Nah, I just tuck it under my shirt after warm-up," he replied, bending over backwards in the required port de bra.   
  
"What about during performance?" she asked when they both moved into second position.   
  
"Well..." Duo completed his plies and stretched forward until his head nearly touched the floor. With his legs in second, he could see her behind him, in the same position. "I'm not a cavalier, so it doesn't matter. I play the character parts." They straightened up and bent sideways. "Like last Christmas, I played the Rat King in *The Nutcracker*. Not in the big company production, of course," he hastily added. "Our class just put it on with the next level down for one of the children's centers in Harlem."  
  
Relena closed her eyes, feeling the familiar stretch up and down her side. The school might have been new, but the comfort of dancing made the awkwardness fade away. "Still...that's a great part. So, who in here was the Nutcracker Prince?"  
  
"Wait until we get into real practice..." Duo adjusted his feet into fourth position. "And then you can figure it out for yourself."  
  
****  
  
Thirty minutes later, they had moved from the barre into floor exercises. Now paired up with their partners, the class had been instructed to perform a fish dive move. When Duo put his hands on her waist, Relena instantly tensed up. She wondered what her old pas de deux partner was doing right then. It was much later in Paris, but Quatre Winner was probably still rehearsing.   
  
Duo seemed to sense her hesitation. "Hey, it's okay." He took her hand. "I haven't dropped a girl yet."   
  
She relaxed a bit and let him lead. He lifted her up into the air; she curved her back, bending one leg at the knee slightly more than the other. For his part, Duo supported her with one hand on her stomach and the other curled around her inner thigh. She aligned her arms at a paralell with her body and they held the position until Treize made his way to them.   
  
"Good. Miss Dorlian, relax your fingers...." Treize looked them over critically. "Mr. Maxwell, you need to support her more; she looks like she's about to fall."  
  
Duo grimaced. "All right." The only way to follow Treize's instructions was to get his hand even higher up on Relena's inner thigh, to the point where he might as well be copping a feel.   
  
Relena jumped even at the expected movement of his hand. Somehow having Quatre hold her in the exact same position had never made her feel uncomfortable. Perhaps because of his relationship with Trowa Barton... A sudden wave of panic hit her.  
  
The slight jerk of her body knocked Duo off balance. She almost fell onto her face, but managed to catch herself by pulling one leg of his grasp and landing on it. She stumbled forward too quickly for him to hold her in place. Every eye was suddenly on her.   
  
"Nice move," someone snickered.   
  
Treize frowned. "Miss Catalonia, keep your comments to yourself." He looked at Relena. "You have to trust your partner, Miss Dorlian or else you might as well quit now."   
  
Relena released a breath when he continued on, inspecting the other dancers. Duo approached her. "Sorry about that," he apologized.   
  
"It's not your fault." She wiped a bead of perspiration off her forehead. "I won't let it happen again."  
  
Across the room, Treize suddenly called for everyone's attention. "Class, I want you to watch Mr. Yuy and Miss Scheibeker execute the fish dive." The partners moved into a perfect example of the supported adagio position. "Look at the lines of Miss Scheibeker's body. This is what you should be trying for, ladies. And gentlemen, watch how Mr. Yuy supports her. Try to do the same."  
  
Relena watched the pair for a long minute. "She's really good..."  
  
"Hilde's the best." Duo grinned. "She's also my girlfriend," he continued, proudly.   
  
"And her partner?" She licked her lower lip when the dancer with the Prussian blue eyes released Hilde.  
  
Duo moved behind Relena to try the fish dive again. "Heero Yuy." He lifted her up.   
  
Her eyes were still on the other boy. "The Nutcracker Prince?"  
  
"You got it."  
  
****  
  
"Great class everyone. See you tomorrow at four sharp."   
  
At Treize's dismissal, the entire class relaxed and headed for their abandoned exercise bags. Relena followed Duo when he went to pick up his. "Wasn't bad for a first class together," Duo told her.   
  
"I nearly toppled over, landed wrong on my grand jete, flubbed up my foutettes...."  
  
"Don't beat yourself up." Duo grabbed his bag. "There's always tomorrow."  
  
Relena tucked a few sweaty strands of hair that had worked loose of her bun behind her ears. "I suppose."   
  
Just then, they were joined by Hilde who immediately claimed Duo's arm. He kissed the top of his girlfriend's head. "You looked good today, babe."  
  
"Thank you." Hilde wrapped her arms around his waist.   
  
"Relena, this is my girlfriend, the greatest dancer alive, Hilde. Hilde, this is Relena," Duo introduced the girls.   
  
Hilde gave her a cool smile. "Did you really dance in Paris?" Relena nodded. "At just what level?"  
  
Duo shook his finger at her. "Quit being catty or I'll have to pinch you."   
  
A little bit of Hilde's initial jealous and hostility towards the new girl faded in the light of her boyfriend's obvious devotion. "Sorry. PMS." She gave Relena a genuine smile. "Duo's a strong partner; you'll get better."  
  
"Um...thank you. I think." Out of the corner of her eye, Relena caught sight of Heero, returning to the barre. "Does he take double classes?"  
  
"No, he's just a perfectionist," Hilde replied, leaning on Duo for support as she loosened the ties on her pointe shoes. "He'll be here until he gets whatever he's working on completely down pat."  
  
"Whew! For a second, I was afraid he might have convinced you to stay, too." Duo winked; it seemed to be his trademark gesture.  
  
Hilde removed her shoes and slipped on a pair of Keds before Duo could see the bloody blisters on her feet. "I wish I could, but I have to work tonight."  
  
"Where do you work?" Relena asked, politely, as she zipped up her parka.  
  
"A dance supply store on West 23rd." Hilde reached into her bag for her watch. "Actually, I've got to run if I'm gonna catch the subway." She kissed Duo's cheek and tried not to hobble out of the studio.   
  
Duo sighed. "Her feet must be killing her. Damn, I wish she wouldn't push herself so hard."   
  
Relena placed her pointe shoes in her bag and pulled on her sneakers. "She seems really nice."  
  
"Yeah. She is." Duo smiled. "When she's not being a prima donna."   
  
Most of the class had left by then, with the exception of Heero who was practicing at the barre. "Do you need a ride somewhere?" Relena asked Duo.  
  
"You have a car?"   
  
Together, they walked out of the studio. "Well, not exactly." When, after a short elevator ride, they emerged onto the busy sidewalk of Broadway, he saw what she meant. A stretch limousine waited for her at the curb. "Damn..." Duo whistled. "Nice setup. So, just who are you, Relena Dorlian?"  
  
****  
  
Relena was, he learned during the twenty minute limo ride to his parent's apartment in Chelsea, the daughter of Gerrard Dorlian, Ambassador to France. Her parent's recent divorce had sent her back to America, quite unexpectedly.   
  
"So, you live with your mom on Park Avenue?"  
  
She tore her eyes away from the bare, winter trees in Central Park as they passed by. "Well, we live with my brother, Millardo."  
  
Duo double-blinked. "Millardo? As in 'Peacecraft'? The Conservatory company's artistic director, Millardo? Engaged to our classes' choreographer, Millardo?"   
  
Relena nodded to every statement. "He's only my half-brother, actually. We have the same mother."   
  
"Hey, that's cool, though." Duo settled back into the leather seat. "Put in a good word for me with your brother when he's casting the workshop next month."  
  
"The workshop? That's the auditions for the company, right?"  
  
Duo nodded. "And pretty much every other company that matters. City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre. We're doing *Swan Lake*, apparently. I'm bucking for the role of Baron Rothbart."  
  
Relena smiled. "I'll drop Millardo some subtle hints."  
  
"I think I'm gonna like you, Relena Dorlian. And not just for that, I swear." Duo grinned. "It's a lot about the limo, too."  
  
She laughed, for the first time in weeks, although Duo wasn't aware of that. "I suppose your girlfriend's going for Odette?"  
  
"Hilde's been trying for that part since she was eight." Duo scratched the back of his head. "She'd probably get it on her own merit, but having Yuy for a pas de deux partner helps her chances a hell of a lot."  
  
"Is he really that good?"  
  
Duo snorted. "He's fucking perfect." He glanced out the window. "Oh, hey! Driver-person..."  
  
"Miles," Relena supplied the driver's name.  
  
"Miles-man." Duo pointed. "That's my building right there." Miles pulled over and Duo opened the limo door. "Thanks for the ride, princess."  
  
The new nickname made her smile even brighter. "Wait," she called to him. "What school do you go to?"   
  
"PS 156," Duo replied. "Why? Where are you gonna be going?"  
  
Disappointment flashed on Relena's face. "St. John's Academy."   
  
"Ah..." Duo crossed his arms. "Well, you won't be alone on your first day, then."  
  
"I won't?"  
  
"Nope." He started to close the door. "Yuy goes there, too." The door shut. Duo waved and bounded up the steps of his apartment building.   
  
Relena closed her eyes as Miles started off towards Park Avenue. She'd be going to school with Heero, the Perfect Dancer.   
  
Somehow, she had a feeling that wouldn't prevent her from being lonely on her first day of school.  
  
****  
  
"Relena, you haven't touched your creme brulee." Lucrezia Noin gave her fiancee's half sister a puzzled look. "I thought it was your favorite."  
  
"It is," Relena assured her. "I'm just not very hungry."  
  
Across the table, Relena's mother, Helen Dorlian, touched her linen napkin to the corners of her tight mouth. "Don't push her, Lucrezia. She needs to watch her weight."  
  
"There's nothing wrong with her weight," Millardo Peacecraft said, firmly. He lifted his coffee cup to his lips and smiled at Relena.   
  
Helen gave her oldest son a look. "A few extra pounds can count for a lot when someone has to lift you everyday. You should know that better than anyone, Millardo."  
  
"A few extra pounds also keeps her from looking emaciated," Lucrezia added in a quiet voice. "But if she's truly not hungry, she's not hungry."  
  
Relena pushed back from the table. "May I please be excused? I have a lot of homework."  
  
No one objected, so Relena started out of the dining room. A servant gave her a curtsy in the hallway before she escaped to the luxurious haven of her rooms. Her bed had already been turned down; not an article of clothing lay on the floor and nary a knick-knack was out of place. Relena stifled a small scream. She had very purposefully left a uniform skirt and blouse in a messy pile on the oriental rug.   
  
She flopped onto her bed. Her own room and she couldn't control how it was kept. As she lay on the soft down comforter, her thoughts drifted back to class. The fish dive. The horrible feeling of panic when Duo's hand came into contact with the inside of her thigh. It was way too much like...  
  
Relena shook her head. The past was a bad place in which to dwell. She turned her head after a moment and her gaze fell on the princess phone beside her bed. Without hesitation, she pulled the receiver from its cradle and dialed a long string of numbers. After a moment of ringing, she heard the voice she had been longing for.  
  
"Hallo?" Quatre Winner's sleepy French was like music.   
  
Relena bit back tears. "Quatre...il ist moi, Relena."  
  
"Relena!" He sounded overjoyed, not giving any indication that he cared that she had woken him up at four AM, Paris-time. "Oh, cheri....it is so good to hear your voice."  
  
"Quatre..." She lost the battle with her tears. "I miss you so much!"  
  
"Bebe..." His sympathy floated to her from across the Atlantic. "Everyone in class mourns now. Relena is gone. I think we do not go on much longer."  
  
Relena twisted the phone cord around her finger. "I think I do not go on much longer, either."  
  
"Do they not treat you well in America?"  
  
"I suppose. But it's not Paris, Quatre. It never will be."  
  
"Of course not!" He paused. "Today began your new class?"  
  
"Oui."  
  
"Et..." he prompted.  
  
Relena sighed. "I have a very nice pas de deux partner. You'd like him, Quatre. He's a bit of a rebel." She described Duo's braid, to Quatre's amusement. "But," she continued. "In class today, when he had to touch me..."  
  
"Vous etes devenus fous?"   
  
"Oui. I completely freaked out." Relena sniffed. "I thought if I got out of Paris....even though I'd be leaving you and the company....I'd be getting away from..." She swallowed. "From him."  
  
"You do not leave behind all bad thought because you run," Quatre said. "It will now follow you until you say, 'Alles vous en! Laissez-moi seul! Be gone! Leave me be!' Only then do you forget."  
  
Relena looked down at her lap. "And then I'll stop having nightmares?"  
  
Quatre made a noise in the back of his throat. "You do not sleep, cheri?" He emitted several French curses. "When I see him, I spit on him. Remember this, bebe...he is one man. The men you meet in America...some different. Give them a...a...merde! What is the word?"  
  
"A chance?"  
  
"Oui! A chance. But trust carefully. Do you understand?"   
  
Relena nodded. "I understand. Merci, my dear friend. When you see Trowa, tell him I miss him."   
  
"I tell him when he wakes," Quatre promised. Relena laughed. Twice in one day; it was a record. "Bonsoir, petit mademoiselle."  
  
"Bonsoir," she whispered before the click of his phone hanging up. She left the phone at her ear for a long time, as if it could keep Quatre with her.  
  
And keep the bad dreams away.  
  
****  
  
To Be Continued 


	2. Getting to know you

Disclaimer: Nothing here's mine, 'cept the plot. Even the title belongs to Bob Dylan. Love you, Bob. You still rock hard core.  
  
Author's Notes: Thank you everyone for the really nice reviews on the first part. I'd just like to say right now in regards to the French that will appear in almost every chapter, I do not speak French. I've taken four semesters of Japanese, three semesters of German and Spanish in high school, but I don't know French, nor do I know anyone who does know French. So, I am using an online translator which I had a feeling was probably way off. I do apologize to anyone who speaks French. If you do, could you please just gloss over my horrible misuse of the language, and again, I apologize;) I hope you still enjoy reading the story.   
  
****  
  
To Dance Beneath the Diamond Sky  
by Kristen Elizabeth  
  
****  
  
First period biology was never fun; who really wants to dissect frogs at eight in the morning? But when Heero entered the bio lab the next morning and saw Relena Dorlian, in her white middy uniform blouse, pullover sweater vest and pleated skirt, sitting in his usual chair, he suddenly had a new reason to wish he had taken art.   
  
He was a few minutes late to class, an extremely rare occurrence as evident by the surprised look on the lab teacher's face. "Mr. Yuy, I was about to mark you absent."  
  
Heero ignored the man and walked down the aisle between the rows of tables to the one he had been occupying by himself for the entire year to date. The new student in his ballet class squirmed ever so slightly in her seat when he stopped in front of her. "You're in my seat," he told her.  
  
The teacher cleared his throat. "Heero, I assigned Relena to be your lab partner from now on, seeing as how you don't have one and we'll be starting on the pig fetuses today.  
  
"I see." Heero took the seat beside Relena.   
  
There was snickering from the lab table adjacent to theirs. "Yuy doesn't want to sit with a girl, Mr. Berardis." Kyle Longheim's loud statement generated more light laughter. "He wouldn't know what to do with one."  
  
"Kyle, keep your mouth closed if nothing useful is going to come from it." Mr. Berardis snapped on a pair of rubber gloves and reached into a bucket for one pig fetus. "Now, when you're dissecting these creatures, remember this. They died so that you could have the opportunity to learn from them. If you act like morons and play with your specimen, they will have died in vain. Do you understand? Any funny business...Kyle...and you'll have an F faster than you can say 'pig'."  
  
Heero stared straight ahead during the teacher's speech, even when he felt Relena sneak a peek at him. When he felt her eyes on his cheek again, he spoke. "I don't work well with others. You should ask for a new lab partner."  
  
"Well...it's just that..." She twisted her hands in her lap. "I don't know anyone else...and since we have ballet class together...I thought that..."  
  
He cut her off. "Ballet and school are two completely different parts of my life. I don't like mixing them."  
  
"Oh." There was a long pause. "I'll speak to Mr. Berardis after class, then."  
  
"All right, people. Get your supplies ready and I'll be around with the specimens." At the teacher's words, the class reluctantly dragged themselves into action.   
  
Heero stood up and went to get a dissection pan and tools. While he was up, he grabbed two plastic aprons and pairs of rubber gloves. The blond girl would probably freak if she got pig juice on her uniform. He started back for the table only to find Kyle already there, sitting on the edge, talking to Relena.   
  
As he got closer, he could just make out what the football player was saying. "...it's in the way he walks. And I even heard that he's been caught in Central Park with a couple other guys. Some massive fag orgy or something." Heero's jaw grew tight.  
  
He watched Relena shake her head and open her mouth to speak, but Kyle continued before she could. "So, I was thinking..." The jock smiled brilliant white. "You being new and all...that someone really should show you around campus. I humbly volunteer for the job." He took Relena's hand. "It's an offer you won't get from your queer partner."  
  
Relena tugged her hand away and smiled sweetly. "But at least his invitation wouldn't make me want to vomit."   
  
Kyle's smile fell. "You know, getting on my bad side isn't a good way to start out at St. John's."  
  
"I'd rather not be on any side of you," she retorted.   
  
Mr. Berardis approached the table with the bucket of fetuses. "Kyle, move it. You've got work to do." The football player moved off after shooting Relena a deadly look. Heero cleared his throat and walked the rest of the way back. He set the dissection pan down in front of Relena just in time for the teacher to plop a wet fetus into it. Mr. Berardis winked. "Have fun."  
  
Heero sat next to her and handed her an apron and gloves before donning his own. "Do you want to make the first cut?" he asked her.   
  
To his surprise, she took up the scalpel and dug into the fetus' stomach. He watched her work carefully and methodically for a long minute without any feminine squeamishness.   
  
She couldn't dance...but she might not be that bad.  
  
****  
  
"Well," Relena said to herself several hours later as she opened up her lunch bag. "You brought this on yourself."  
  
The courtyard of St. John's was dusted with a light layer of snow, but that hadn't stopped most of its students from seeking the freedom of eating lunch outside. And every single one of those students, Relena noted, were studiously ignoring her.   
  
She opened up a plastic container of salad and speared a cucumber slice. Kyle the jock worked fast. Within the span of four class periods, he had informed the entire school of Relena's "loser" qualities and alerted them to the fact that she was not to be approached or showed a friendly hand.   
  
So, she sat by herself and quietly ate her lunch, completely unaware of a pair of Prussian blue eyes, watching her from the balcony that overlooked the courtyard.   
  
"At least you have dance class," she said out loud. "And in four months, you can get out of this city and back to where you belong." A job in Paris waited for her; she had all but signed the contract. The thought formed a smile on her lips.   
  
And unbeknownst to her, the smile created an unfamiliar twinge in the center of Heero Yuy's chest.  
  
****  
  
"No, no, no!" Treize clapped his hands together in frustration. "Miss Dorlian...just what are you doing?"  
  
Relena lowered her leg. "I'm sorry. This is how we were taught in Paris."  
  
"In case you hadn't noticed, sweetie....you're not in Paris anymore." Dorothy Catalonia's comment was followed by light giggling.   
  
Treize ignored the laughter. "Watch Miss Schbeiker, Miss Dorlian and learn it properly this time." He turned back to the rest of the class. "Keep going everyone. We have no time to waste. The workshop is getting closer every day."  
  
Duo put a comforting hand on his partner's shoulder. "Hey, I thought the move was cool, princess."  
  
"After two weeks, I should know to keep my mouth shut and just watch your girlfriend at all times."  
  
"Well, that works for me...the watching her part." Duo guided Relena into the appropriate leg position. "But as for you being quiet, I don't think anyone wants that."  
  
Beside them, Dorothy executed a perfect arabesque with the help of her partner. "Don't speak for all of us, Duo-dear."  
  
"Don't trip, Cata-lonely-a." There was something to be said for the power of suggestion. Even with her partner's help, Dorothy stumbled out of the arabesque and shot Duo an evil look.   
  
"Cata-lonely-a?" Relena asked.  
  
Duo grinned. "Long story." He took Relena's hand into her own arabesque.   
  
"Very good, Miss Dorlian," Treize said from across the room. Relena stepped out of the move with a plie and a smile. "All right everyone. Line up in the corner. I want two side by side jete entrelace and then, gentlemen, lift your partners by the waist and ladies, a clean scissor kick." He pointed to Heero and Hilde. "Mr. Yuy, Miss Schbeiker, please demonstrate."  
  
To no one's surprise, the pair executed the requested movements with skill and grace. Relena watched Heero's hands around Hilde's small waist as he lifted her into the air. The muscles in his arms corded with effort until he set her down again.   
  
"That's my girl," Duo said, proudly. He glanced at Relena. "Hey, I wanted to ask you....are you going to the gala tomorrow night?"  
  
Relena nodded, still thinking about Heero's arm muscles. "Um...yes. Millardo sort of has to be there."  
  
"Oh. So you'll be sitting with your family then."  
  
She gave him a puzzled look. "Who else would I be sitting with?"  
  
"Well...I was thinking, me and Hilde." He tucked his braid into his black shirt. "We get free tickets. All students do."  
  
"I didn't know that." Relena weighed the idea of spending an evening with her mother or her new friend and the best dancer in the class. "I think it would be a lot of fun."  
  
He smiled widely. "Great! We'll meet you in the lobby then!" Duo nudged her. "Our turn, princess."  
  
The parallel floor combination started out well enough. Two jete entrelace, neat and clean. Relena even found herself letting down her guard when Duo gripped her waist. But apparently, he sensed she needed more encouragement.   
  
"Relax," he told her softly, just before lifting her. "You can trust me."  
  
She froze, an unwanted memory clawing to the surface. **Detendez-vous, Relena....vous pouvez vous fier a moi. I just want to touch you...you can trust me, mon cher.** Duo lifted her into the air. **Do not fight me, Relena....laissez-moi vous avoir...**  
  
Instead of the scissor kick, she fought against Duo's arms. "No...let me go!"  
  
"Princess?" Duo lowered her to the ground. "Did I hurt you?"   
  
Treize signaled the pianist to stop. "Miss Dorlian, what happened?"  
  
Relena put both hands to her head. "I...I'm sorry. I just..." She looked at Duo, her eyes filling with tears. "I'm sorry."   
  
"Are you all right?" Treize asked. Relena nodded. "Go get some water and sit out for the rest of the class, please."  
  
She was in no state to protest. The wood of her shoes was the only sound in the studio as she ran for the door. Once she was gone, the whispers and giggles began.   
  
Duo frowned. "Hey!" he said out loud. "Quit it, everyone." The noises grew quieter, but didn't disappear. "Sheesh..."   
  
Treize clapped his hands. "We'll practice piroettes. Everyone line up again, no partners. One by one, down the length of the floor." There was much groaning as his orders were followed.   
  
Hilde joined her boyfriend. "What made her freak?" she asked, suspiciously. "And where were your hands when she did?"  
  
"I don't know," Duo replied. "Certainly not where you're thinking they were."  
  
"And where is that?"  
  
He turned to her with a warning look in his violet eyes. "You trust Yuy with your body every day. And I trust you with him. Why can't you have that trust in me?"  
  
"Duo..." Hilde reached for him, but he had already begun his series of angry pirouettes and moved out of her reach.  
  
****  
  
In the empty hallway outside the studio, Relena slumped to the floor and buried her face between her tight-covered knees. Her tears stuck somewhere in her throat. Maybe Quatre had been right. Maybe she needed therapy. Of course, she hadn't even bothered to bring up the possibility to her mother. It would have simply embarrassed Helen too much to have a daughter with a therapist.  
  
**He didn't actually rape you, Relena. So, I don't think that you coming to America with me is warranted at all.**  
  
But she hadn't listened to her mother. After all, Helen would have done anything not to be burdened with her youngest child anymore. Even left her in a city, in a ballet program, where she would have to face the man who held her down after practice and, if not for the sudden re-entrance of the company pianist, would have taken her virginity by force.   
  
Her mother hadn't even believed her at first. **Jean-Paul has been nothing but good to you and your dancing, Relena. He's taught you more in this year than you've learned your whole life. How can you accuse him of something like this?**  
  
And when she finally did accept Relena's accusation, her advice had been meager. Stay in Paris and forget. Relena chose to run to America. Because nothing could make her forget. And in America, she didn't have to endure her attacker's touch every day.   
  
She swallowed and ran her hands down her legs the pink ribbons around her ankles. Ballet. The source of the little joy she had experienced in her life. And the stage for the most painful moment imaginable.  
  
The sound of footsteps signaled someone's approach. Relena lifted her head to see a slender woman in exercise clothes coming towards her. The woman stopped beside her and knelt down. "Are you all right, dear?" she asked.  
  
Relena nodded. "I'm fine. Thank you."  
  
The woman studied her some more. "You're Millardo's little sister, aren't you?" Again, Relena had to nod. "It's good to finally meet you after hearing so much." She held out her hand. "I'm Anna Une."  
  
Relena immediately recognized the name. The woman holding out a hand to her was the Ballet Conservatory company's leading ballerina. And, according to Duo's gossip, Mr. Treize's current lover. She took the woman's hand. "Nice to meet you, too."  
  
Another woman approached in similar work-out gear. "Anna, let's go."   
  
"I'll be right there, Sally." Another name Relena had heard more that once. Sally Po was also a principal dancer in the company. Anna looked back at Relena. "Whatever makes you cry, use it when you dance. And you will soar." After touching Relena's cheek, she stood up and continued on her way with Sally.   
  
She thought about Anna's words long after she was gone. Using her pain to dance better. Relena smiled and wiped at her eyes. It was so silly, it might just work.  
  
****  
  
To say that Duo was surprised to answer his building's intercom at midnight and hear Hilde's voice on the street below would have been a massive understatement. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and pressed the button to talk again. "Hilde? What the hell are you doing in Manhattan at this hour?!"  
  
Her voice came back, thin and staticky. "Will you just buzz me up? It's freezing out here."  
  
He did so immediately, to get her off the street as soon as possible. After the few minutes it took her to climb three flights of stairs, there was a soft knock on the front door. Duo opened it. "I could strangle you," he told her without any ceremony.   
  
"It's nice to see you, too."  
  
Duo ushered her inside and pulled her coat off. "You took a train from Brooklyn?! At this hour...what were you thinking?!"   
  
"I was just thinking..."  
  
"Shh!!" Duo pointed to the hallway that led to his parents room.   
  
Hilde began again, in a quieter tone. "I was just thinking that I was a real bitch this afternoon. And I wanted to apologize."  
  
Duo looked at her for a second before grabbing the sleeve of her green sweater and guiding her to his bedroom. Once inside, he pointed to two items with both arms. "Let me introduce you to the phone and the internet. Modern communication, this is Hilde."   
  
She scowled. "You know I don't have a computer, Duo. And..." She took a breath. "Mom forgot to pay the phone bill again so they disconnected our line."   
  
"Oh." Duo bit his lip. "I'm sorry; I didn't know. But that still doesn't make it safe for you to ride the trains at night by yourself!"  
  
"I have mace! I can kick really high!"   
  
In his total frustration, worry and relief, he grabbed her and gave her a long, hard kiss. "I would die if anything happened to you."  
  
Hilde laid her head on his bare chest. "I know what you mean." There was a moment's pause. "Do you always answer the door in just your boxers?"  
  
"Only late at night."  
  
She pulled back to see him. "That's just more incentive for me to take the train again someday."  
  
"Don't...you...dare." He punctuated each word with a kiss. "So...you came here to apologize. Well..." He broke away and flopped onto his unmade bed. "Get on with it."  
  
"Fine." Hilde propped her hands up on her threadbare jeans. "This afternoon....I was jealous. Crazy jealous."  
  
"Of Relena?"  
  
"Of anyone who gets to be that close to you! I mean..." She paced around the bed. "I'm your girlfriend. I'm the only one who should get to..."  
  
Duo raised an eyebrow. "You were never jealous of Mary."   
  
"Maybe I was. A little." Hilde sat on the edge of the bed. "But she was different. She wasn't...."  
  
"Pretty," Duo supplied.  
  
Hilde frowned; he knew her way too well. "Relena isn't just pretty, Duo. She's beautiful. Her hair is gorgeous. She's probably never had a zit. She's rich and she speaks French and she's a reasonably good dancer when she's not tripping over her own feet or freaking out in the air." She paused, but only for a breath. "She has everything. And I could never, ever compare to her in any other way besides dancing. So when I see you with her, laughing and joking, I get this huge ball in my stomach and all these horrible thoughts get into my head and I turn into some kind of evil stepsister and I don't like it!"  
  
He waited until he knew she was through to smile at her. "Babe. You've got at least one thing that Relena doesn't have."  
  
"What's that?" Hilde sniffed.  
  
Duo took her hand and pressed it against his chest. "Don't make me get cheesy by saying it."   
  
His girlfriend's lower lip trembled for a second before she pounced, pinning him back to his own bed with her tiny, but strong body. He let her hold him down while she kissed him, but when her mouth moved down his neck, he wrestled his hands away and held her in a tight embrace.   
  
"Duo," she whispered. "I love you, too."  
  
Warm hands slid under her sweater. "Stay the night?"   
  
Hilde sat up. "I can't. You know that."  
  
Duo pulled his hands out of her clothes to run them down his face. Her body was so light on his. He wanted to roll her over and make love to her until dawn, until she would never again doubt his devotion. But, as always, she stopped before they could even approach the beginning strains of pleasure. "I know," he said. "I know."  
  
"And you also know that I want to so badly." She licked her lips, still tasting his. "But I just can't risk everything I've worked so hard for my entire life, Duo."  
  
"You don't have to tell me, babe." Duo rubbed his eyes and sighed. "I couldn't really be a father right now, either." He tilted his head back. "Still....a blowjob now and then would be nice."  
  
Hilde reached for his braid and yanked it. "Sure, that'd be fun for you!"  
  
"I'd reciprocate!"  
  
She released his hair. "I know you would. And it'd be wonderful, I have no doubts. That's why we can't. We're only human, Duo."  
  
It was his turn to sniff. "Can we at least cuddle?"   
  
Hilde laughed and snuggled down into his waiting arms. "Anytime." They lay together, arms around one another for a long time. She thought Duo had drifted to sleep until he finally spoke.  
  
"I don't particularly like Yuy touching you and lifting you either, you know."  
  
She curled the end of his braid around her fingers. "You don't have to worry about Heero. I'm starting to think the rumors are all true. Maybe he is gay."  
  
"He's not gay," Duo said, confidently.   
  
"And just how do you know that?"  
  
Duo smiled. "'Cause he doesn't know the handshake." Hilde tugged his hair, even more sharply than the first time. "Ow! Kidding!" He laughed. "I know because I see him looking at her."  
  
"Her?"   
  
"Relena." Duo pried his hair from his girlfriend's fingers. "Don't you ever see him in class? You're never more than five inches from him."  
  
Hilde's brow crinkled in thought. "I don't think about much else in class besides what I'm doing."  
  
"Well, I do. And he looks at her. As often as he thinks he can get away with it." Duo shifted, moving her warmth more onto his chest. "Relena says they're lab partners in their bio class and when they got an A on one project, he actually thanked her for her help."  
  
"Wow. That's very unlike him." Hilde nuzzled her cheek into the crook of Duo's neck. "I get the feeling that you're planning something....why is that?"  
  
Duo grinned mischievously. "Just make sure that Heero comes to the gala tomorrow night. All will be revealed. Now, go to sleep. That's an order."  
  
Hilde rolled her eyes. She might as well do as he asked. It was a Friday night, no school tomorrow and she hadn't exactly been looking forward to risking another train ride at one AM. Plus, Duo's arms were strong and warm and his heartbeat was rapidly lulling her into much-needed sleep.  
  
And, she thought just before her eyes closed, her mom's sleeping pills wouldn't wear off until well after dawn.  
  
****  
  
To Be Continued 


	3. Wonderful tonight

Disclaimer: Not mine, not mine, not mine, plot's mine. Yeah, that's about it;)  
  
Author's Notes: Again, thank you for all the awesome feedback. I'm glad yall are liking and are open to this story. It's been a lot of fun to write it and to hear what you think.   
  
****  
  
To Dance Beneath the Diamond Sky  
by Kristen Elizabeth  
  
****  
  
"Any problem in the world can be solved by dancing." -James Brown  
  
"You don't have to know about ballet to enjoy it, all you have to do is look at it." -Edwin Danby  
  
****  
  
As she had expected, Relena had little trouble persuading her mother to let her sit with Hilde and Duo during the benefit gala showing of *The Sleeping Beauty*. In fact, the only opposition she received in regards to the idea was from Millardo. But after she assured her brother that she would be available for press photos after the ballet, he had no further problems. It was the first time she realized just how high of a position her brother held in the company.   
  
She did accompany her mother, Millardo and Lucrezia in their limo to Lincoln Center where the gala was to be held. It was much the same as traveling to a state function to meet the President of France with her father. Relena smoothed a wrinkle out of her ice blue evening gown and folded her gloved hands in her lap. Millardo and Lucrezia chatted easily with her mother, but she said nothing for the duration of the limo ride. When they arrived at the Center, she parted ways with her family as soon as she was helped out onto the sidewalk.   
  
"Have a good time, Relena!" Lucrezia called to her as she went off to search for her friends. She gave her brother's fiancee a genuine smile over her bare shoulder.   
  
It didn't take long to spot Duo, even in the thick crowd of evening gowns and tuxedos. His braid easily distinguished him from anyone else. He spotted her at the same time her gaze fell on him and he gestured wildly. Relena moved over to him, the hem of her slinky gown brushing against the floor.   
  
"Hey, princess! You look great!"  
  
She blushed. "Thank you. So do you." She gestured to his tuxedo.   
  
Hilde appeared beside him, wearing a simple black dress and heels. Her hair was curled around her face and dusted with glitter; Relena had only ever seen it clipped back in class. The other girl forced a smile to her lips. "I love your dress. Is that the same one they had in the window of Dolce & Gabbana last week?" Relena reluctantly nodded. Hilde's smile was even tighter. "It's beautiful."  
  
There was an uncomfortable moment. Duo slung a casual arm around Hilde's shoulders and lifted up on the balls of his feet to scan the crowd. "He's late. I mean, for him."  
  
"Who's late?" Relena asked.   
  
"Heero," Hilde replied. She watched Relena's reaction carefully. Rather than the flash of anticipation she had expected to see, a streak of worry ran through the other girl's blue eyes. "He always sits with us when he comes. Didn't Duo tell you?" The blond girl shook her head, curled locks of her hair brushing her shoulder blades.   
  
"There he is!" Duo announced, dropping back down. The lights in the lobby flickered several times, signaling the audience to take their seats. "Just in time."  
  
Heero joined them a moment later, clad in a tux very similar to Duo's. His hair was less mussed than in class, but not by much. Thick bangs flopped over his forehead, framing those Prussian blue eyes. Relena swallowed as he came even closer.   
  
"Hey, Yuy," Duo greeted him, holding out his hand. Heero shook it rather reluctantly.   
  
"Heero." Hilde put a hand on her pas de deux partner's sleeve. "Look who's decided to join us."  
  
Relena felt his gaze swing onto her and she forced a smile onto her face. "Hello, Heero. It's nice to see you away from the dissection table."  
  
"You, too," he replied after a second's pause. The lights flickered a final time. "Let's go." Heero started for the theatre doors. Relena followed him.   
  
Duo and Hilde hung back. "See what I mean?" Duo said. "He can't keep his eyes off of her."   
  
"If you say so, Duo." Hilde took his hand. "I think it's the two thousand dollar dress, though. Nothing more."  
  
****  
  
When the ballet began, Heero figured he could lose himself in the music and the dancing and completely ignore Relena Dorlian's presence. She was intruding on his world. In dance class, in regular class and now, even his weekends. The strangest thing was that he wasn't upset as he thought he should be about it.  
  
He shot a little look to his left just before the lights went down. Somehow Hilde had managed to manipulate things to where he was sitting on Relena's right side. She had not, however, been successful in putting herself between Duo and Relena.   
  
"Anna's playing Aurora tonight, isn't she, Hilde?" Duo asked his girlfriend as the music started.   
  
Hilde nodded. "She is so wonderful."   
  
"Anna Une is the one I was telling you about. The one Treize is shacked up with this week," Duo explained to Relena.  
  
She nodded. "I met her yesterday at the studio."  
  
Hilde lifted an eyebrow. "She actually talked to you? Anna doesn't ever talk to us students."  
  
Relena shifted in her seat. "Well...I was a bit upset. She was probably just being nice."  
  
"Anna's not known for being nice," Hilde retorted.  
  
The lights on stage rose. "Quiet," Heero said, effectively ending all conversation.   
  
Thirty minutes later, after the appearance of the ballet's Lilac Fairy who dances a promise to baby Aurora's parents, protecting her from the Fairy Carabosse's curse, Duo dared to speak. "The Lilac Fairy is Sally Po. She just became a principal dancer this season. She probably would have sooner if she had fucked Treize, too. But she's totally in love with the company's tech director."   
  
"Who's that?" Relena asked, genuinely curious.   
  
"His name's Wufei. Chang, I think. I've only met him once or twice when we were rehearsing on the mainstage."   
  
Hilde snickered softly. "He told Duo to hack off his braid so the tech crews wouldn't have to sweep up his long hairs."   
  
Relena seemed to catch the dangerous look growing in Heero's eyes although his stare remained glue to Sally Po's solo piece. "Shhh..." She put a gloved finger to her lips to quiet Duo and Hilde's gossip before Heero could.   
  
After a ten minute intermission, during which Relena and Hilde braved the line in the ladies restroom and Heero was stuck with Duo and his endless chatter, the second act began. It would be another forty five minutes until Anna Une finally appeared as the grown-up Aurora. After the prince's kiss, she woke and began the ballet's lovely pas de deux.   
  
The second intermission started as soon as Anna and her partner finished. Next to Heero, Relena let out a little sigh. "I always love that part when he wakes her up."  
  
"Me too," Hilde agreed. Her eyes were misty.   
  
"I like it when the Prince kicks the evil fairy's ass," Duo announced.  
  
Heero could feel Relena's eyes on him. "What's your favorite part, Heero?" she asked.  
  
He didn't have to think about it. "When Aurora is lying on that bed. Completely silent."   
  
Relena looked down at her hands. "Yes, I suppose that would be your favorite part." Duo took her hand and squeezed it comfortingly. Hilde grabbed her boyfriend's other hand.   
  
"How did I get so lucky?" Duo asked before the lights went back down for the third act. "My best girl and my princess and I'm right in the middle."  
  
Heero rolled his eyes and focused on the wedding of Aurora and her prince as it unfolded on the stage.  
  
****  
  
Even though Hilde was party to Duo's master plan, she was nonetheless surprised when, after the final curtain call, he dared to present his idea to Heero and Relena.  
  
"The night is young," he started off. "And the party they're gonna have here will be boring as shit." He guided Hilde to the aisle with Heero and Relena behind him. "I have a suggestion."  
  
"What's that?" Relena asked. Hilde gritted her teeth. The girl always asked her questions so innocently, like she'd never think of the answers without help.   
  
"It's a surprise," Duo grinned. "Are you brave enough, Yuy?"  
  
Heero snorted softly. "I have to go home."  
  
"Aw, c'mon, Heero!" Hilde pulled at her partner's arm. "It's just a swing club."  
  
"Then I definitely have to get home."  
  
Hilde played her trump card. "You know...Treize recommends well-rounded dancers to the company. Ballet, jazz, modern....swing..."  
  
They emerged with the crowd into the lobby. "I suppose I don't have a choice then."  
  
"Excellent!" Hilde clapped her hands together. If she could get Heero to dance with Relena then the other girl wouldn't have to get anywhere near Duo for the rest of the night. "We'll grab a cab together, then."   
  
Duo reached into his tuxedo pockets. "I have a friend in Soho who made us fake IDs this afternoon. Princess, I didn't have a picture of you, so Mitch used one of his older sister."   
  
Relena reached for her fake ID and examined it critically. "Duo...the person in this picture outweighs me by about fifty pounds."  
  
"We were all amazed by your miracle diet and the bouncer will be, too." He snatched it back and tucked it away for safe keeping until they arrived at the club.  
  
She laughed. Then, she remembered her promise to Millardo. "Oh! I have to take some press pictures with my brother!" She bit her lip. "I guess you'll have to go without me."  
  
"No way!" Duo declared. "We'll wait for you, princess. Where's your brother?"  
  
Relena pointed to Millardo and Lucrezia. "Over there."  
  
Hilde's gaze followed her arm. When she ended up looking at the company's artistic director and choreographer, her eyes narrowed. Relena's brother was in charge of the entire company and would decide who made it in after graduation and who didn't. Her fate lay in Relena's brother's hands.   
  
**Don't be jealous,** she told herself. **I'm sure Relena got into the class on her own merits and you know you're going to make the company no matter what. Just take a deep breath and relax.**  
  
Duo ran ahead with Relena, leaving Heero and Hilde in the middle of the crowd. Hilde let out a little sigh and it seemed to attract Heero's attention. "You shouldn't be jealous of her," Heero said. "Your turnout is a hundred times better than hers."  
  
The statement was appreciated, but did little to squelch Hilde's jealousy when photographers from every major paper began snapping photos of Relena and the Ballet Conservatory Company's artistic director. Tomorrow, those pictures would be in every art and entertainment column in Manhattan. But to Heero, the fact that she was a superior dancer should have been all that mattered. Heero didn't see anything beyond that.   
  
Maybe trying to get him and Relena together was misguided.   
  
When Hilde saw Duo posing for pictures with Relena, she decided that having Heero Yuy for a boyfriend was exactly what Relena deserved.  
  
Fifteen minutes later, Duo and Relena emerged from the reporters and rejoined Heero and Hilde. "Can we blow this joint now?" Duo asked, throwing his arm around his girlfriend.  
  
"I was ready to go ten minutes ago," she replied, pointedly.  
  
Relena nibbled on her lower lip. "I'm sorry. I didn't know it would take so long."  
  
Heero, who had by this point twisted his program beyond recognition, shook his head. "Maybe we should forget the whole thing."  
  
"Well..." Hilde twisted a glittered curl around her finger, weighting the possibility of having several Relena-free hours with Duo if they didn't all go out dancing together. "It would be kind of hard for you to swing in that long dress, Relena."  
  
"Oh, that's not a problem." Relena reached behind her back and a second later, detached the overskirt of her dress, leaving her in a gown now a good four inches above her knees. Hilde blinked and shot a look at Heero. Her jaw nearly dropped when she saw him checking out Relena's smooth legs like a normal, warm-blooded, heterosexual male. "You don't think it's too short now, do you?"  
  
Duo whistled. "Nice trick, princess!" He felt around Hilde's waist. "Does yours do that, too?"  
  
She glared at him. "Mine's already short, Duo. Lose anymore and it would be indecent."  
  
He winked. "I wouldn't be complaining." Duo looked back at Relena. "The gloves don't work now. Doesn't balance." Relena nodded and peeled them off her arms.  
  
"Can we just go?" Hilde didn't mean to sound so forceful, but her tone caused the other three to blink.  
  
"Yeah. Sure." Duo reached for her hand. "Let's go grab that cab."  
  
****  
  
An hour later, Relena found herself shivering on 56th Street, presenting a very bad fake ID to the very large bouncer outside of Swing Kids, a small, but hot swing club Duo had read about in the Village Voice. The burly man looked at the ID, then looked back at Relena several times before he finally handed it back to her.   
  
"Congrats on the diet," he told her, before lifting the velvet rope and letting them through.   
  
Once inside, Relena breathed a bit easier. "Sneaking into a club with a fake ID. I knew my life was going to change in America, but I had no idea. I can't wait to tell Quatre."  
  
"Who's Quatre?" Hilde asked. "French boyfriend?"  
  
She shook her head. "No, but he has one." Hilde laughed...and it wasn't fake or forced. Relena's smile grew brighter.   
  
The brass band was alive, filling the room with colorful music. Couples on the dance floor were in full swing with the crowd cheering them on. A haze hung in the air from all the cigarettes, but Relena ignored it. The music was already entering her bloodstream. And she wanted to dance.  
  
"All right!!" Duo grabbed up Hilde. "Let's go, babe!" She nodded with great enthusiasm and they were off. Duo called over his shoulder, "Ask the princess to dance, Yuy!"  
  
After they disappeared into the throb of swinging couples, there was a long, awkward pause. Relena was having a hard time keeping her feet still. She delicately cleared her throat. "If you don't want to, I can find someone else..."  
  
"No." Heero shrugged out of his tuxedo jacket and draped it over a chair at a nearby, empty table, before undoing the top buttons on his shirt. "We can dance."  
  
His hand was warm and strong. But then, what had she expected from the hands that could hold another person over his head for five minutes at a time? Together, they pushed their way to the center of the dance floor. As they passed Duo and Hilde, Relena blushed at the wink she received from her braided partner. She took a deep breath as Heero stopped and faced her.   
  
"Ready?" he asked. Relena nodded, but she was completely unprepared for his hand gripping her waist, his other hand clasping hers. She swallowed and put her free arm around his muscled shoulder. A moment, no more than a heartbeat, passed as they stared at each other.   
  
The dance began.   
  
****  
  
To Be Continued 


	4. A hard day's night

Disclaimer: Characters are not mine...blah, blah, blah. You know the drill.  
  
Author's Notes: Thanks for all the continued feedback;) I'm glad you all think that ballet + Gundam = something not entirely crappy. I was worried myself;)   
  
****  
  
To Dance Beneath the Diamond Sky  
by Kristen Elizabeth  
  
****  
  
"Are you having fun?"  
  
Heero looked down at the blond girl who had her arm wrapped around his shoulder as the club's singer belted out a fast tune. "It's been an interesting night."  
  
Relena frowned. "Is that all? You're telling me that you're not having one bit of fun? Not even a smidgen? An iota? No fun?"  
  
He blinked, taking in her flushed cheeks and slightly slurred words. "You've been drinking."  
  
"I had one little amaretto sour while you were in the bathroom," Relena scoffed. "I'm hardly drunk." Her fingers curled around the back of his neck. "I'm just having fun for the both of us." There was a peal of laughter from a few feet away where Duo and Hilde were cutting a rug. "Now, *they're* drunk."   
  
Heero shook his head. "Maxwell is always like that."  
  
"They really dance well together." Relena smiled. "And they look good, too."  
  
Without warning, Heero dipped her. "We can do better."  
  
Her loopy smile fell. "Is that what dancing is to you? A competition?"   
  
"Not always," he replied, pulling her back up.   
  
"When is it not?"  
  
Heero's gaze darted back and forth between her blue and violet flecked eyes. "When I'm having fun."  
  
"Are you having fun?" she repeated her earlier question.   
  
"I'm here. I'm dancing with you." He turned her; somehow she managed to keep her balance on her heels. "What more do you want?"  
  
Her happy buzz fading, Relena stopped moving with the music. "Nothing. I don't want anything from you, Heero."  
  
"Hey!!" Duo pushed across the dance floor toward them, dragging Hilde with him. "Switching partners time!"  
  
"Duo...I don't want to..." Hilde began. But it was too late; Duo had already made the switch and had his arm around Relena's waist. She sighed and looked up at Heero. "Having fun?"   
  
Now across the dance floor, Relena's good mood was rapidly returning as Duo took over spinning and dipping her slender body. "So," he called out over the music. "Making any headway with the tight ass?"  
  
"Not a bit," she shouted back. "He's an ice cube."   
  
"Then you'll have to melt him." Duo spun her around before doing the same.   
  
Relena laughed. "And just how do you propose I do that?"  
  
He dipped her low, lower than Heero had dared to. "With your sizzling personality."  
  
She threw her head back; her long hair pooled onto the floor. Duo yanked her back up and her arms wound around him in a tight hug. "Thank you, Duo."  
  
"For what?"  
  
Relena kissed his cheek. "For being you."   
  
Back on the other side of the dance floor, there was a witness to the innocent kiss. And she didn't like it at all.   
  
****  
  
"All right, cool cats and hot dames...get your asses on the floor for another of your favorites." The lead singer pointed to the band to begin the next song.   
  
Hilde shook her head and clasped the underside of her chair with both hands when Duo held out his arm to her. "No. I refuse to dance anymore."  
  
"Oh come on! Don't tell me you all are tired!!" Duo put his hands on his hips, effeminate, but he hoped, effective. "It's barely three-thirty!"  
  
"Duo..." Hilde glared at her boyfriend. "We've been here for four hours now. We're hot. We're sweaty. We all smell like an ashtray. And quite frankly, we're ready to go."  
  
Relena nodded in total agreement as she held her thick hair up off the back of her neck. "My feet hurt. My pointe shoes are more comfortable than these." She gestured to her three inch heel, strappy sandals.   
  
Heero stood up from his chair. His hair was damp with sweat at his temples and his evening shirt clung to his back and chest. "I'm leaving."   
  
"Every party has a pooper and this one has three," Duo muttered. But he let himself be led out of the club by the undone bow tie around his neck.   
  
The street outside was still busy; it didn't take Heero long to hail two cabs. "Thanks, pal," Duo said, clapping the other boy heartily on the back. "Hilde, you're with me. Yuy, you and Relena take the other."   
  
Relena glanced at Heero. He didn't seem to have any objections to the plan. After all, they were both headed uptown, to Park Avenue. "All right," she agreed.   
  
Duo opened the door to one cab and made a deep bow towards Hilde. "After you."   
  
She folded her arms tightly over her chest. "Duo...I can just catch the train. I don't want to..."  
  
"Shush!" He pressed one finger to her lips. "It's my money. Well, my parents, actually. Let me worry about it." Hilde closed her mouth and slid into the cab with great reluctance, Duo behind her. Before he shut the door, Duo grinned at Heero and Relena. "You two don't do anything we wouldn't do." The door closed and the cab took off to Brooklyn.   
  
Relena licked her lips, tasting the salt of her perspiration. Their dancing had been fast and furious. When Heero danced, he was alive. He held nothing back. It had been a struggle to keep up with him, but one she had enjoyed immensely. Now, however, the usual Heero had returned. Cool and detached. Still, he held the door open for her and gestured her inside.   
  
When they were both in the cab, Heero addressed the driver. "Two stops...." He looked at Relena.  
  
"67th," she supplied. "67th and Park."  
  
Heero continued. "And then at 72nd and Park." The cab jolted forward into the traffic flow.   
  
It only took Relena a few minutes to work up the nerve to speak. "I had fun tonight." Heero nodded curtly. "You really are an amazing dancer." She paused. "How long have you been dancing?"   
  
"Since I was six," Heero replied after a moment.   
  
"Me, too." Relena smiled. "You must have been adorable back then." Heero lifted his shoulders. "Sorry. I didn't mean to..."  
  
He shook his head. "Don't worry about it."   
  
She let out a breath. "I never know what to say to you, Heero."  
  
"Maybe you shouldn't try."  
  
"Is that what you'd like?" she whispered a minute later, when she had recovered from the emotional punch to her gut.  
  
Heero's reply was even longer in coming. "No," he finally said. "You're just the only person who's ever tried so hard. To talk to me."   
  
Relena coughed lightly. "What about your groupies in ballet class?"   
  
"I don't even know half their names. We've been dancing together for two years, but I couldn't tell them apart if..." He stopped, suddenly aware of how much he was saying. "It's different. You're different."   
  
She glanced out the window. "Thank you."  
  
At long last, the cab pulled up outside of Relena's building. "Well," she said. "I guess this is goodnight." Heero said nothing, so she opened the door and slid out. He shifted over and followed her out. "Heero?"  
  
His breath swirled around his face in the early morning air. "I'm not gay," he blurted out.  
  
Relena smiled. "I'm glad."  
  
"My whole life has been about dancing. And nothing's ever gotten in the way of that," Heero continued.   
  
"The last thing I want is to be in your way."   
  
Heero shook his head. "It's too late." She waited for the kiss for a long minute; the moment called for a kiss. She even closed her eyes in preparation. But it never came. "Goodnight," Heero said instead, as he got back into the cab.   
  
Relena sighed, turned on her heel and walked towards the front entrance. "Hi, Martin," she greeted the night doorman.   
  
Martin let her into the building with a wink and a smile. "Nice looking young fellow, Miss Relena. Your boyfriend?"  
  
She watched the cab pull away from the curb and continue up Park Avenue. "You know, Martin. I'm not even sure I can call him 'just a friend'."   
  
****  
  
From mid-town Manhattan to the Brooklyn Bridge, Duo employed every trick in his book to get Hilde to talk to him. He shifted on the backseat of the taxi to see her better as they crossed the river. "Baby...if you could just tell me what I did to make you mad, then I could..."   
  
She turned her head away to stare out the greasy window.   
  
He slumped into the slightly smelly seat. "Great...the silent treatment. What, are we two again?"  
  
"I'm not sure, Duo? Are we? I didn't know you when you were two; maybe you were the world's biggest flirt then, also."  
  
"Flirt??" Duo sat up. "What the hell are you talking about?"  
  
Hilde pointed a finger at him. "Don't you play dumb with me! I hate it when you do that! You were flirting with her all night and you know it, so just admit it!!"  
  
"With Relena? You think I was flirting with Relena? Babe...come on! I thought we settled all of this the other night..."  
  
"Yeah, well...before the other night you weren't holding her hand and calling her your princess," Hilde muttered.   
  
Duo spread his hands. "I'm trying to get her with Yuy!! Would I be doing that if I were interested in her as anything more than a friend....which, by the way, is fucking insane since I'm completely crazy about you!"  
  
"You have a funny way of showing it."  
  
He opened his mouth to continue his tirade, but the spark of anger died. "Do you know something? You're adorable when you're jealous."  
  
In the front seat, the taxi driver whistled under his breath. The boy in the backseat had just made a major error in strategy.   
  
Hilde's eyes narrowed. "Do you have any comprehension of just how condescending and insulting that was?"  
  
Duo blinked. "It was?"  
  
She threw up her hands. "I don't even know what to say anymore!!"  
  
"I don't understand what you're so pissed about!"   
  
The cab pulled up next to Hilde's apartment building. The sound of an ambulance siren whirled in the background. "Listen," Hilde said, getting out of the car. "When you've figured out why your girlfriend is pissed at you for calling another girl your princess and posing for pictures with her and holding her hand at the ballet and letting her kiss your cheek....give me a call." The door slammed shut before Duo could reply.   
  
"Hilde..." He reached for the door handle to follow her.  
  
"Better not do that," the cabbie advised him.   
  
Duo frowned. "Why not?"  
  
"Women need a cool down period. No point trying to talk to them when they're that riled up." The burly man pulled away from the curb and made a U-turn, heading back for the city. "Where you going again?"  
  
"Chelsea," Duo replied. He sighed. "I just don't get it...how could she even think I'm interested in Relena like that?"  
  
The driver shrugged. "Men'll never figure out a woman's mind. She's a pretty little thing, though. Bit too skinny."  
  
"She's a ballerina." He ran a hand down his face.   
  
"I like a woman with some meat on her bones. Soft...you know." The cabbie made a turn. "My first wife was dancer. Strip club...had no tits until I paid for..."   
  
Duo tuned the man out. In his mind, he replayed the night's events. Could she have really misinterpreted everything he had done in regards to Relena? He rubbed his eyes. There was only one way for him to convince Hilde that he had no interest in the new dancer beyond friendship.   
  
He would have to get Heero Yuy and Relena Dorlian together if it was the last thing he did.  
  
****  
  
"Relena..." Quatre's voice was fresh and awake when she called him at four AM, New York time, a far cry from the sleepy tone she received when she called any earlier. "Est que vous?"  
  
"Oui, it's me," Relena smiled into her phone. "I just got in. It's four in the morning here."  
  
Quatre made a tsk-ing sound. "Too late, cher, too late. What keeps you out at night?"  
  
"Dancing."   
  
"Je vous..." Quatre laughed. "You go on the date, bien?"  
  
Relena rubbed her aching feet. "Not exactly. It was a group thing."  
  
"A group thing," he repeated.  
  
"Four of us went out to a club after the ballet." She sighed. "It was really fun."  
  
"And you dance with who, cher? What lucky man?"  
  
Relena flopped back onto her pillows. "He's just...a guy. We have ballet class together and we go to the same school."  
  
"Your pas de deux partner? The Duo?"  
  
"No...Duo is just a friend. But Heero..." She stopped.  
  
Quatre's laughter was soft. "You wish to be more?"  
  
"Oui," she admitted. "But it won't happen."  
  
"Ah...petit. He is like me?"  
  
It was Relena's turn to laugh. "Actually, no. He's definitely straight."  
  
"C'est merveilleux!"   
  
"No. Not really..." she continued. "He's not interested. All he thinks about is dance."  
  
She could sense Quatre's disappointment over the phone. "Oh, cher. You find another."   
  
Relena nodded. "When I get back to Paris and I'm with the company..."  
  
"Cher," Quatre began before abruptly stopping.  
  
"What is it? Quatre?"  
  
Quatre sighed. "You know I change class after you leave, bien? I can not look at that man now, but I want to hurt him for you. But...Trowa stay. He is not man of change."  
  
"I remember." Relena smiled at the memory of Quatre's tall, quiet lover.   
  
"Trowa tell me last night...Jean-Paul being...how do you say...given a better job. With company. He will no longer teach class."   
  
Relena's face paled. "Are you saying....that he's working with the company now? My company??"   
  
"Je suis desole, cher. I am sorry."   
  
"But..." She shook her head. "I was counting on getting a job with the company. I could come back to Paris, but I wouldn't have to see him anymore. If he works for the company....what am I going to do?"  
  
Quatre sighed again. "I did not wish to be bringer of sad news, cher. But you should know."  
  
"Non...non, non, non..." Relena closed her eyes. "This isn't fair!"  
  
"Je suis desole," Quatre repeated. All he had to offer from so far away was his sympathy. "Je souhaite qu'il y ait eu quelque chose que je pourrais faire."  
  
She stopped listening to him, no longer in the mood to think in French. He was going on about wishing he could something for her, but she knew there was nothing for him to do. The decisions had all been hers and she had made the wrong ones. Not pressing charges, running to America, naively thinking she could return to Paris someday without having to deal with what had happened to her.   
  
"It's all right, Quatre," Relena finally said. "I'm fine. I promise."  
  
"You still come back to Paris, cheri?"  
  
Her eyes were glassy. "No. I can't go back now. As long as he's there...I can't ever go back."  
  
****  
  
Heero let himself into his father's apartment as quietly as possible. There were no lights on; he breathed a little easier, assuming the older man was already asleep. He locked the door behind him and started for his room.   
  
"Just what the hell do you think you're doing, rolling in here at four AM like you owned the fucking place?"  
  
He sighed and turned around to see into the dark parlor. The metal lines of his father's wheelchair shone in the moonlight from the open window. In the chair, where he had been stuck for twelve years, Ethan Yuy glared at his son. He didn't seem drunk, but then, alcoholics rarely did.   
  
"Sorry, Dad. I forgot that you're the only one who does the rolling around here."   
  
Ethan wheeled closer to him. "You better shut that smart lip, boy."  
  
"Or you'll do what, Dad?" Heero crossed his arms. They played this game ever so often. He always won; he was eighteen, strong and healthy. His dad was fifty, paraplegic and under the influence.   
  
"You and your mother...just the same." His father pounded the arm of his wheelchair. "Smart mouths, both of you! And fucking dancers, too. Is there where you were tonight, boy? Prancing around in your tights?"  
  
Heero lifted his eyes to the fresco on the molded ceiling. "Yeah, Dad. I was prancing. Go to bed, okay?"  
  
"Don't you fucking order me to bed like I was a fucking child!" His father's face became red with rage; he wheeled even closer, but Heero showed no signs of fear, but braced himself for the first blow. "What's that smell on you?" his father asked. He sniffed. "Perfume. Perfume and cigarettes?"  
  
"Um..." Heero pulled at his dress shirt. "I was out. That's all."   
  
"With a girl." Some of the anger melted from Ethan's face. "Well...this is a first for my little fag."   
  
Heero calmly placed his hands in his pants pockets. "Don't embarrass me with such cute nicknames, Dad." He bypassed his father's wheelchair and continued on to his room.   
  
"Don't you walk away from me, boy!! Hey! I'm talking to you!"   
  
He shut the door to his bedroom, bolted it for extra measure and released a long pent up breath. His fists clenched. Without hesitation, he strode across the room, past his neatly made bed, past his state of the art computer, past his personal barre and weights, all purchased with the money from the large estate his mother had left him before she hung herself by the banister in their old townhouse.   
  
He didn't know just how his mother had known her husband well enough to place Heero's money in a trust fund, accessible only to him on his sixteenth birthday, but he was grateful. The money had paid for his ballet classes and private school tuition. Had it been up to his father to decide how the money was controlled, he would have gone to public school and taken hockey lessons. With these thoughts, he headed straight for his punching bag.   
  
Five minutes later, his knuckles were raw and he dripped with fresh sweat, but his anger was under control. Heero wrestled his shirt and tux jacket off and threw them across the barre. He wanted to dance, but he was too angry to remember the steps he needed work on. And, he had to admit, after spending four hours turning, lifting, dipping and spinning Relena Dorlian, he was too wound up to concentrate, anyway.   
  
So, he flopped onto his bed and lay still for several minutes to catch his breath. His dad had been right about one thing; he smelled like her perfume. But he had no desire to shower. He could still smell her on his clothes and skin as much as he could feel her slender body on his hands and still see the occasional glimpse of lace she had accidently flashed during some of the more risque swing moves.   
  
Relena Dorlian was messing with the world he had spent twelve years trying to patch back together. Heero turned his head to one side, to see the framed photograph of his broken family on his nightstand. His mother, a ballerina and more beautiful than life, his father, before the car accident the night after his mother's suicide that had forever robbed him of the use of his legs and his subsequent drinking, and then him, six years old, only dancing to please his mother.   
  
He reached out a hand and turned the picture down like he did every night before sleep claimed him.  
  
****  
  
To Be Continued 


	5. The way you make me feel

Disclaimer: Standard. You know it by heart.  
  
Author's Notes: More thanks for your continued support and kind reviews;) I'm sorry for the shortness of this chapter...I took a few days break from writing and I'm just getting back to business. More soon, I promise. On the other stories of mine, too.  
  
****  
  
To Dance Beneath the Diamond Sky  
by Kristen Elizabeth  
  
****  
  
"Dance is a little insanity that does us all a lot of good." -Edward Demby  
  
"I don't want dancers who want to dance; I want dancers who have to dance." -George Balanchine  
  
****  
  
"Flowers, check. Candy, check. Apologetic face..." Duo molded his handsome features into the desired look. "Check." Taking a breath, he reached out and knocked on the door to Hilde's apartment.  
  
It was a long minute before the door opened a crack. A little stab of hurt hit his heart when Hilde didn't automatically remove the chain lock. "Duo...what are you doing here?"  
  
He held up the flowers. "I come bearing pollen."  
  
The corners of her mouth involuntarily lifted. "You don't have to..."  
  
"Can I just come in? Please? I won't take long; I just have some things to say."   
  
After a second's hesitation, Hilde closed the door and reopened it after dropping the chain lock. "Only a few minutes. My mom will be home from work soon."  
  
He nodded and strode in, reviewing his prepared apology in his head. The apartment Hilde shared with her mother was small, even by New York standards. Everything was plain...white-washed walls, mismatched furniture, worn throw rug. Hilde was the brightest thing in the apartment. Not for the first time, Duo imagined what it would be like to take her away from all of this forever. To move her into their own apartment in Soho or Chelsea or maybe even the meat-packing district. They'd have colorful, clean furniture and paintings on every...  
  
"Duo," she interrupted his thoughts. "You said you had something to say?"  
  
Turning around to face her, he stuck out the flowers and the candy. "Hilde-baby," he began. "I am so sorry about last night. I wasn't thinking and I was a jerk and I don't deserve to have a girlfriend like you, but if you take pity on me, I'll be eternally grateful."  
  
Hilde looked down at the tired wood floor; she had her pointe shoes on, evidently she had been practicing. "Oh god...why do you have to be so cute?"  
  
"Is that a 'yes, I forgive you'?" he asked, hopefully.  
  
She nodded. "Of course I forgive you. I love you."  
  
Grinning, Duo tossed the flowers and the candy onto the dining room table and lifted her into the air. "I love you more than my tights, Hilde Schbeiker."   
  
Hilde didn't wait until he had set her down to kiss him. After only a day, her lips missed his. When they broke apart a minute later, Duo gently lowered her back to her feet. She looked up at his gorgeous eyes. "Promise me that you're not at all interested in her."  
  
"I swear." He placed his hand over his heart. "She is my friend. You are my girlfriend."  
  
"And the princess thing...?"  
  
Duo lifted his shoulders. "A nickname. She lives like a princess; you are one." He winked at her. "But knowing you, you'd deck me if I started calling you something so frilly."  
  
She sniffed. "Probably." Her next-door neighbors began yelling at each other in Spanish. "I'm glad you came by Duo. I was feeling kind of...bad about the way I acted last night."   
  
"Really?"  
  
Hilde poked his chest. "Not that you weren't still a flirt. But I was a little bitchy." She blushed. "I actually thought for a minute that Relena deserved Heero...especially when he's moody and withdrawn and completely insensitive."   
  
Duo winced. "Ouch. I thought they looked good together."  
  
"Oh, they do. It's kind of scary how beautiful they both are." Hilde frowned. "Are you sure he's not gay?"  
  
"I'm hoping he's not," Duo replied. "That would just blow my plans to hell."  
  
She groaned. "Another plan??"  
  
"It's ongoing." He kissed the top of her head. "Get some different shoes on. I'm taking you out on the town."   
  
For the first time since she had let him into the apartment, Hilde gave Duo a real look. He was wearing a thick black sweater to guard against the cool, late winter air outside, but there had been no hiding his muscles when she had been in his arms. A sudden bolt of desire ran through her.   
  
"Do you think..." She reached up to comb her fingers through his bangs. "...we could stay here instead?"  
  
He swallowed, catching on quickly. "And do what?"  
  
"Not...you know...go the whole nine yards." Hilde let her hands drift down his sides. "But some of that other stuff you've mentioned before...I think we could control ourselves and still have fun."  
  
"But your mom...."  
  
"I lied. She's at work until eleven tonight." She took his hand and led his shell-shocked, but eager body towards her room. When Duo left the apartment three hours and two orgasms later, she watched him hail a cab from her bedroom window. He hadn't gone back on his promise of mutual pleasure; her entire body still sang, in fact. But Hilde was absolutely convinced that she had forever erased any stray thoughts about Relena Dorlian from her boyfriend's mind.   
  
****  
  
Relena was ten minutes late for biology class the Monday after the gala. She walked straight into a pop quiz. Mentally, she shook a hand at the fates as every eye in the class except the Prussian blue ones in the back shot up upon her tardy entrance.  
  
"Nice of you to join us this morning, Relena." Mr. Berardis handed her a copy of the quiz. "I hope you're up to date on arachnids."   
  
She shuddered as she slide into her chair next to Heero. Spiders. And she hadn't even looked at the book over the weekend. Heero was deep into his test and didn't even glance her way. After situating herself, Relena settled down to bullshit the quiz as best she could.   
  
Fifteen minutes later, when the quizzes had been passed to the front, Mr. Berardis began his lecture. Relena shot a glance at her lab partner. "Morning," she whispered.   
  
Heero scribbled something their teacher had just said into his notebook. "Hello."  
  
"So..." She pulled her own binder from her leather backpack. "Today's the big day." He frowned. "The workshop casting."  
  
"Oh. Yes." Heero busied himself with his notes.   
  
Relena was silent for a couple of minutes until there was a break in the teacher's speech as he attempted to work the overhead projector. "Are you nervous?" she asked him.   
  
Heero set down his pen. "No."  
  
There was more than a little impatience in his voice. She crossed her ankles under the table. "Am I bothering you?"  
  
"Yes," he replied, without hesitation.  
  
Relena blinked. "I'm sorry." She bit her lower lip to keep it from trembling. "I'll be quiet."   
  
"Thank you."  
  
She wiped under her eyes before his hurtful words could smudge her makeup. "You're welcome."   
  
When the bell rang at the end of the period, Heero gathered his things and left without a word. Relena slowly stood up and replaced her binder in her bag. She didn't even notice Kyle approaching her until it was too late.   
  
"Have a fight with your bitch boy?"  
  
She fastened the bag's buckles. "Go away, Kyle."  
  
"Oh come on. It's not like you were ever gonna get to ride that train. It's reserved for ass, not pussy."  
  
Relena shook her head. "You're disgusting."   
  
Kyle put his hand over his uniform sweater. "I'm crushed."  
  
"Why can't you just leave Heero alone? He's not done anything to you."  
  
"Hmm..." The football player pulled at his perfectly clefted chin. "You're right. My god...why haven't I seen the error of my ways before?"  
  
Relena rolled her eyes and walked away, pulling on her backpack. "Grow up."  
  
As she walked out of the bio lab, she was too upset to notice Heero standing just outside the open door, listening.  
  
****  
  
"Reach for it, Miss Dorlian! Reach for that jete! Mr. Maxwell, watch your foot; you nearly caught Miss Catalonia in the eye. Mr. Yuy, good, very good. Higher, Miss Yoshikawa...I want to see you fly. Jete...a regular jete, Miss Schbeiker. I know you can do an entrelace. Mr. Simpson, straighten your leg..."  
  
As Treize continued shouting instructions to the line of students, jete-ing their way across the floor, Relena glanced at the people sitting in chairs along one mirrored wall, watching the class. Her brother and Lucrezia, along with Anna Une and the corps de ballet master. Each person had a clipboard in their hands and were taking thorough notes on every student.   
  
Her throat stuck for a second. This was almost worse than a formal audition. What those four people were writing in regards to casting the workshop would decide, for most everyone, herself included, the rest of their entire lives.   
  
"Pay attention, Miss Dorlian," Treize snapped her to attention. "Pirouette and then grand jete now, please."  
  
She nodded and did the required movements. She didn't even stumble...until after she had landed the jete. Her brother scribbled something onto his pad of paper and she mentally groaned. Millardo was a fair director. He wasn't about to cast her in anything, sister or not, if she kept performing like this.   
  
"All right everyone!" Treize clapped his hands. "That'll be all. Take a half hour break and, hopefully, we'll have made our final casting choices."  
  
Relena followed Hilde and Duo out of the studio. Duo immediately annexed the hallway water fountain, drinking like his life depended on it. Hilde sat on the floor with all the grace she had just presented in class and spread out her legs at a nearly a 180 degree angle. She began to stretch. Down the hall, Heero also used his break time to continue working, using the ledge of a window looking into one of the studios as a makeshift barre.  
  
"So..." Relena said once Duo came up for air. "How worried should we be that they're only going to take a half hour to decide?"  
  
"I think it's safe to say that they've pretty much already decided." Hilde lifted her arms above her head and bent over until her nose was only an inch from the floor.   
  
Duo reached for Relena's hand and adopted his hustler accent. "Don't schweat it, schweetheart." He leered at her. "Ya looked like a doll out there."   
  
Relena laughed, despite herself. "You're such a goon."   
  
"He's *my* goon," Hilde said, straightening up. "Get your own."  
  
Duo lifted an eyebrow. "Have I mentioned, *schweetheart*, how much I love being your property?"  
  
She stood, grasped the arch of her left foot with her left hand and lifted her knee up to her ear. "Hey, I didn't make you wear the 'if lost, return to Hilde Schbeiker' sticker, did I?"  
  
"No, you just get this feral look in your eyes..." He fanned his hands around his own eyes to demonstrate. "Very predatory."  
  
Hilde smiled sweetly. "I just don't like sharing you. With anyone." She directed a look at Relena.   
  
"You know...I think I'm going to practice my jetes in there." Relena pointed to an empty studio across the hall. "Come and get me when they're ready?" Duo nodded before she slipped away.  
  
When she was gone, all joviality was cast aside. "Okay. Just how many times to I have to tell you that you're the only girl for me before it gets through the glitter on your head?" Duo folded his arms over his chest.   
  
His girlfriend dropped her foot and ignored the growing number of stares from their classmates. "How am I supposed to react, Duo? I'm your girlfriend! I'm the one you say you love. But all you do is defend her and laugh with her and...and.... I mean do you have any idea how much that hurts?!"  
  
"Babe..." He reached for her and at the same moment, caught sight of all the stares. "Hey...mind your own business!" The other teenagers looked away or returned to what they had been doing. "Hilde," he started again after he moved her a good ten feet down the hall. "Ever since Relena started class, everyone has been down on her. And she doesn't deserve it. So, yeah...I stick up for her. She's my friend. But you..." Duo smiled. "You're much more." Hilde looked away.   
  
He took her chin and directed her gaze back to him. "You're my girl. And if me being nice to a fellow dancer who happens to be my pas de deux partner upsets you this much...you're not the person I thought you were."  
  
"It's just..." She shook her head. "She hasn't had to work for anything! Probably ever! She doesn't just have a silver spoon, she has a whole fucking flatware set! And I..." She stopped. "It's just not fair."  
  
Duo shook his head. "No, it isn't. But I'd be willing to bet Relena's had her share of rough shit. It's just a little more hidden than us average folks."  
  
Hilde laughed and rubbed her eyes. "She was right. You are a goon."  
  
"Your goon." He gave her a soft kiss. "Always."  
  
With a spark in her blue eyes, Hilde reached around and slapped his well-muscled behind. "Don't you forget it."  
  
Down the hall, the door to their practice studio opened and Treize stepped out. "Class," his voice echoed down the corridor. "We've come to our decisions."  
  
****  
  
To Be Continued 


	6. Life's a bitch

Disclaimer: Standard. As usual;)   
  
Author's Notes: I can't tell you how much your sweet reviews and general interest in the story means to me. I'm verclempt. That's the only way to describe it.   
  
One more note: I have given Duo parents in this fic. They're sweet and wonderful and probably very out of the usual Duo family life sync. But I couldn't help it. The boy deserves some goodness for once;)  
  
****  
  
To Dance Beneath the Diamond Sky  
by Kristen Elizabeth  
  
****  
  
"Hey!" Duo burst into his parent's Chelsea loft and dropped his school and dance bags onto the wood floor. "I'm home!!"  
  
His mom, Sara, bolted in from the living room, spattered head to toe with paint from her latest series of modern art. "Well?!" She wrung her hands, smearing the colors together. "Did you get it?!"  
  
He grinned at her. "Where's Dad?"  
  
Robert Maxwell appeared from the same direction as his wife, tying the sash on his terrycloth robe. "So, are we looking at a Baron von Rothbart or not?"  
  
Duo made a face. "Tell me you weren't just posing for Mom in the buff."   
  
His parents exchanged a look. "Sure, son. Whatever helps you sleep at night," his dad replied.   
  
Their only child shuddered. "Moving on..." His grin returned. "You're not just looking at a Baron von Rothbart....you're looking a particularly evil Baron von Rothbart with a hell of a lot of hair!"  
  
"Oh sweetie..." Sara enveloped him in a huge hug, forever ruining his shirt and sweat pants. "I am so proud of you!!"  
  
His dad clapped him on the shoulder. "Good work, kid. And what about that cute little girlfriend of yours?"  
  
****  
  
As soon as Hilde got home from her five hour shift at the dance store, she started dinner and set two places at the table. For once, the chores didn't bother her. In fact, she didn't think anything would bother her ever again. Cloud nine was a nice place to be.  
  
Katja Schbeiker arrived home just as Hilde took the lasagna out of the oven. She threw her mother a bright smile. "Hi! Dinner just needs to cool for about ten minutes, so I hope you're hungry."  
  
"Thanks, precious." The older woman peeled off her coat, revealing her pink and white waitress uniform, and dragged herself over to the couch.   
  
Hilde searched through the fridge for salad fixings. "So...we had class today."  
  
The reply she got was muffled by the couch cushions. "Good one?"  
  
"Very." Hilde examined the head of lettuce she found and decided the meal could do without a salad. "You know that workshop? Swan Lake?"  
  
"Uh-huh."  
  
"Well...." She filled two glasses with ice and water and carried them to the table. "Just guess who landed the lead role of Odette?" There was a pause. "Mom?" Hilde glanced over at the couch. Her mother was fast asleep. After double shifts at a second rate diner, it was hard to blame her. With a sad smile, she went over to the couch, picked up a plaid blanket thrown over the back and tucked it around her mother's exhausted body.   
  
Hilde served herself a helping of lasagna and sat down to eat. She lifted her water glass. "Here's to me."  
  
****  
  
Ethan was already passed out for the night when Heero arrived home from ballet class. He was hanging out of his wheelchair, a thin line of alcoholic drool leaking out of the corner of his mouth. Heero set down his stuff, turned on a few lights, drank a glass of water and ordered pizza for dinner before he went to help his father.   
  
After he had dragged the crippled man into his room and deposited him onto his bed with much disgust, Heero went back into the living room and started on his homework. When his pizza arrived, he ate quickly, finished his work and took a shower.   
  
Heero stacked his pillows in the usual arrangement and climbed into bed. Lifting the photo on his night stand, he spoke to his mother's picture. "I got it, Mother. Prince Siegfried. Are you proud?"  
  
She smiled back at him, her face frozen in time. Heero turned the frame down and stared at the ceiling. Lost in his thoughts, he reached for the portable phone. He wasn't quite sure why he had memorized Relena Dorlian's home phone number from the school directory, but he dialed it without hesitation.   
  
It rang several times before a voice answered. A man; her brother, presumably. "Hello?"  
  
Heero pressed the talk button to end the call. After another few minutes, he set the phone aside, turned off the light and closed his eyes to sleep.  
  
****  
  
Millardo hung up the phone and returned to the dining room. Lucrezia looked up from her crepes suzette. "Who was it?" she asked.  
  
"They hung up." He sat back down at the head of the table. "Where were we?"  
  
"You were about to offer your *sister* a justly deserved explanation as to just why in God's name you allowed her to be cast in the corps de ballet!" His mother took an angry sip of wine.   
  
At the other end of the table, Relena's hand trembled as she lifted a bite of dessert to her lips. "Mom, please. It's okay."  
  
Millardo sighed. "Mother, when I cast the show today, I put on blinders to anything but the dancer's raw talent. The girls I chose for solo roles were best suited for those parts. It's as simple as that. But Relena is a good dancer and she'll do very well in the corps."  
  
"It takes a dancer far above average to make the corps, Helen," Lucrezia reminded her future mother-in-law. "So much more work goes into a role like Relena's because she has to be absolutely in sync with the other girls."   
  
"No one will see her!" Helen set her wineglass down with a bang. "She'll just be one of the swans, no different from any other swan!! How could you do this to your sister?!!"  
  
"Mom!" Relena set down her fork without eating. "It's all right! I'm not good enough to play Odette and if Millardo had cast me, it wouldn't have been fair to the girl who *is* good enough! Okay? So, can you please just drop it?!"  
  
Silence followed her outburst. "How dare you raise your voice to me, young lady," Helen whispered. "I am trying to think about the rest of your career. Do you think that the Paris Ballet is going to take someone who was just in the corps?"  
  
"Since I'm not planning on returning to Paris, I suppose it really doesn't matter, does it?"   
  
Lucrezia cleared her throat. "I thought you had your heart set on it, Relena."  
  
"Yeah, well..." Relena blinked back hot tears. "That was then; this is now. Actually, I'm thinking about just putting in some college applications for the fall."   
  
Helen threw up her hands. "I don't know what's gotten into you, Relena, but I don't like it. You are a dancer; you were born to be one. It's in your blood. How can you just throw away twelve years of hard work on a lark?"  
  
"It's not a lark!" Relena stood up. "I'm not good enough! You can close your eyes and pretend, Mom, but I can't. I have to think about my *real* future. The one that doesn't include dance." She pushed away from the table. "I'm excusing myself for the evening. If anyone calls, which they won't, I'm already asleep."   
  
She slammed every door in her path until she was back in her room. It was one of those moments when a girl just needs to throw herself onto her bed and sob. Heero's rejection, Duo's fights with Hilde that she knew had something to do with her, only being cast in the corps...it was all a bit too much to take at once. She was tempted to call Quatre, but then remembered that it was his two year anniversary with Trowa. A smile peeked through her tears. At least someone would be getting lucky that night.   
  
****  
  
"Ladies. Ladies of the corps, can I have your attention, please!" The corps master clapped her hands, silencing the twenty ballerinas in the rehearsal studio. "We're going to begin now, as we're all nicely warmed up." The older woman began pacing in front of the dancers. "You'll have three weeks with me to learn the swan dances before you join the rest of the cast to rehearse the entire ballet. Miss Schbeiker will be joining us occasionally in these next weeks, when the schedule calls for Odette to dance with the swans."   
  
She stopped and looked down at her notes, as though she had forgotten something. "What I'll be teaching you in the time we have together will be fairly simple. The choreography for *Swan Lake* is far older than you...far older than me, in fact. I'm sure many of you are already familiar with it, but it's an entirely different thing to learn it by heart. The first thing we'll do today is arrange you all in lines according to height. Our most important task is synchronicity. In many ways, the corps of *Swan Lake* is the hardest part of all. In the next three weeks, you will all learn to move as one unit. You are no longer just a single dancer. You are a swan in a corps of swans. If you don't like that..." The woman pointed to the studio door. "Leave now. There are no prima donnas in my corps. Understood?"  
  
There were murmurs of consent from the dancers. Relena added her voice to the group with a quiet, "Yes ma'am."   
  
"All right. Line up." The corps master clapped her hands again; she was even worse about the motion than Treize. As Relena stood up and formed the requested line with her fellow dancers, she had a sudden longing to be back in Treize's ballet class with Duo and Hilde. And Heero.   
  
But that wouldn't happen for another two weeks. Her friends were soloists; she was part of the corps. She accepted that with a fair amount of grace, believing herself to be only good enough to be a swan. *Although,* she thought to herself, gritting her teeth when Dorothy Catalonia pushed her way in front of her. *It certainly wasn't easy.*  
  
****  
  
"And one...two...three...four...five...six...seven....head up, Hilde!!" Lucrezia Noin lifted her own chin to demonstrate. "Two...three...four...lift!!! Five...six...seven...eight...."  
  
Duo watched Heero lift his girlfriend into the air without any visible effort. He set her down again and she spun away in the choreographed pirouettes. Heero backed up and waited; in just a moment, Hilde turned and gracefully ran back to him. He lifted her again, this time higher. In mid-air, he twisted her body to hold onto her lower back instead of her stomach. Her spine curved until she was draped over his shoulder. He turned and turned, slowly lowering her to the ground with each rotation.   
  
It amazed Duo how, after only two weeks of daily three and a half hour rehearsals, Heero and Hilde already managed to have most of their pas de deux pieces memorized, although far from perfected. As if to prove this, Lucrezia held a hand up to the pianist.   
  
"Heero, that was very good, only try to get her even higher. You started lowering her too fast because she wasn't up high enough and it threw you off the music." Lucrezia smiled at Hilde. "You can help him out by running to him with even more speed, only don't lose the swan quality. Flutter, but with force."   
  
Hilde nodded. "All right."  
  
"Also, your pirouettes were technically perfect, although I would like a little more power behind them, too," the choreographer continued. "All in all, you're both doing wonderfully and we still have a week until the whole cast joins together." Lucrezia turned to the other soloists. "I'd like to go back and rework Rothbart's entrance at the ball; I'm going to deviate from the standard choreography a bit to give you some more to do, Duo."   
  
He shot to his feet. "Really?" The evil Baron might have been a wonderful way for him to dance and keep his hair, but the part was very small.   
  
"Really." She motioned him over. "Let's take it back to the ball. Hilde, you're Odile now. Remember, she might be impersonating Odette, but she's not her. They're two characters that require two styles. You're trying to fool the Prince, but you're still a different person. It's a fine line you're going to dance, but I'm confidant that you'll manage it."   
  
Hilde smiled. While everyone started for their ball scene places, Duo came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her tiny body. "Looking good, babe."  
  
"You'd say that even if I had fallen on my face." She looked across the studio to where Lucrezia was consulting with her fiancee. Hilde was almost positive that they were discussing her. "What's important is that they think it looks good."  
  
"Yeah, well..." Duo frowned. "I guess I'll just have to find my own company to run." His girlfriend tweaked his nose before moving off to join some of the other girls. "Then maybe you'll give a damn about my opinion again," he finished, scowling.   
  
He looked around the room of soloists, some of the best, most promising young dancers in the world. But there was something missing. Relena, he realized. She should be here with them. Not stuck in the corps, learning how to blend in.   
  
Heero approached him, readjusting the strap on his soft shoe. "Good for you. Getting more to dance."  
  
The congratulations caught Duo off guard, considering the source. He blinked. "Thanks, Yuy." The thought of Relena persisted as he suddenly remembered his vow. His full lips curved up into a mischievous grin. "Bet you can't wait to join up with the corps, eh?"  
  
"A full cast won't afford us the one-on-one rehearsal time..." The other boy stretched his arms over his head. "But it'll be good for us to know where we stand with everyone together."  
  
Duo had to stifle a sigh. The guy didn't get it at all. "No...no, I meant it'll be fun to be with the rest of our class again. Don't you feel like something's missing?" He gestured around the room. "Someone, maybe?"  
  
Heero lowered his arms and debated whether to answer or ignore the braided dancer. The truth was, Duo had hit upon a truth. Something had been missing from his life for just over a week. True, he still saw her in class and around school, but there was a distance between him and Relena now that they no longer shared a ballet class.   
  
Until Duo pointed it out so plainly, Heero had been ready to accept it as a blessing, rather than confront the fact that seeing less of Relena Dorlian on a daily basis had created a hole in his entire life.   
  
"If you have something to say, say it," Heero said. "I don't have a lot of time."  
  
Duo cracked his knuckles to loosen his joints. "You should ask her out sometime. Take her to a movie or out dancing again. Or just a walk in the park...she's not one of those high maintenance society chicks you've known your whole life."  
  
"How do you know who I've..."  
  
"Hey." Duo shot him a look. "My dad's a Wall Street investment banker. My mother's a highly respected artist. They might have been the hippies from hell at one time, but they still move in the upper circle. You don't think I spent summers in the Hamptons and Christmases in Aspen like everyone else on your block just because I decided to go to public school?"  
  
Heero shrugged. "I guess I hadn't thought about it." He flexed his foot. "And I've never been to Aspen."  
  
"All I'm saying...and you're making it damn difficult...is that Relena doesn't buy into all that crap, even though she lives it. The same goes for you, so you already have a lot in common. She's not cute like my Hilde, but she's more than a little pretty," Duo took a breath and prayed for Relena's eventual forgiveness for what he was about to do. "And.....she told me she has dreams about you."  
  
"Dreams about me," Heero repeated. He regretted his next question before it even left his mouth. "What kind of dreams?"  
  
Duo lifted both his eyebrows. "Wouldn't you like to know..."  
  
Heero's eyes grew darker just as Lucrezia called for places a second time. He simply shot a cold look at his braided companion. "Maybe you should just keep stuff like that to yourself."  
  
"Maybe," Duo said, once Heero had walked away. "But I won't. You are going to sweep Relena off her feet if I have to lie, cheat *and* steal. As god is my witness...you will make her happy, Heero Yuy, even if it kills all of us."  
  
****  
  
To Be Continued 


	7. Ready for a fall

Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah...not mine, 'cept for the story line.  
  
Author's Notes: Yall are just too sweet about this story. Thank you for sticking with it. Don't worry....Heero/Relena sweetness is coming in bucket-fulls. In fact, soon you'll be going, 'Okay, Kristen, we get....you like Heero and Relena. Sheesh, can't you write about anyone else?' Hehehe....  
  
****  
  
To Dance Beneath the Diamond Sky  
by Kristen Elizabeth  
  
****  
  
"Technical perfection is insufficient. It is an orphan without the true soul of a dancer." -Sylvie Guillium  
  
"We should consider everyday lost in which we don't dance." -Neitzche  
  
****  
  
"All right, people. Places for the Act Two coda. Mr. Yuy, Miss Schbeiker..."  
  
Hilde shook out her arms and moved across the rehearsal studio to her designated place. Heero came up behind her a moment later, wiping sweat from his brow. "Holding up?" he asked her.   
  
She nodded. "But I swear...if I hear anyone tell me to be more swan-like one more time..."  
  
Trieze walked to the side of the room. "And Miss Schbeiker," he called out. "Remember...you're a swan princess. You have to move like one!"  
  
Hilde gritted her teeth. Against the mirror, where he was relaxing with some of the soloists, Duo snickered. "Bird-like, babe. Bird-like!"  
  
She threw her boyfriend the most withering look imaginable before she let Heero grasp her waist. The pianist struck up and Hilde gave herself over to the role of Odette. After four weeks of rehearsals, her focus was less on the steps and more on the role as a whole. As she moved into an arabesque with Heero's hand as an anchor, she let the music wash over her. For a brief moment, she was the swan princess, reveling in the love of Prince Siegfried as they danced his promise to marry her and return her to her human state.   
  
Heero lifted her into the air and then set her down; her back curved over his arm.   
  
"Miss Schbeiker!!" Treize clapped his hands. "You're a swan! Flap your wings! Preen your feathers!!"  
  
Duo cupped his hands around his mouth. "Give yourself a bath!!" There was an eruption of giggling from the corps.   
  
Treize sighed and halted the pianist. "I'm going to take this outburst of Mr. Maxwell's as a sign that everyone is tired. We'll call it a day. Remember ladies of the corps, costume measurements will be taken tomorrow, so plan on staying a little later than usual. Class dismissed!"  
  
Relena stood up along with the rest of the corps, brushed off the back of her tights and walked over to Duo. "You are so bad," she admonished him. "You're also the only fun thing about this damn ballet."  
  
Duo tipped an imaginary hat at her. "Thank ya, little swan lady."  
  
Hilde approached, her toe shoes clapping angrily against the floor boards. She ignored them and dug into her bag.   
  
"Hey, babe," Duo reached for her, but she stepped away. "Hilde?"  
  
Relena cleared her throat. The air was suddenly uncomfortable. "You and Heero looked really good today," she offered.   
  
The other ballerina pulled on a light sweater. "Thanks."  
  
"Babe," Duo tried again. "What's wrong?"  
  
Her blue eyes narrowed. "I know you only dance because you can and you're bored in the afternoons, but for some of us...this is our life. This is our way out. It would be nice if you didn't mock that in front of everyone who matters!"  
  
Duo's jaw dropped. "Hilde...baby...I wasn't..."  
  
"Just...in the future, can you try to keep all your comments to yourself?"  
  
Because he didn't want to argue in front of the entire corps and because he was too stunned by her outright bitchy attitude, Duo folded his arms over his chest and simply said, " Fine."  
  
There was a pause. "Um...Duo and I were talking earlier about going to grab a hot dog in Central Park," Relena said. "It's really lovely outside and..."  
  
"I can't." Hilde slung her bag over her shoulder. "I have an actual job. You know...that thing where you work in exchange for your money?"  
  
Relena swallowed. "I'm sorry."  
  
"Don't be." Hilde sighed. "I should be the one apologizing. It's just...." She put her hand to her forehead. "I'm sorry. Just ignore me." Without looking back, she walked out of the studio.  
  
Duo released a breath. "Fuck."  
  
"Duo, is she all right?" Relena frowned. "I know I haven't known her for very long, but...that doesn't seem like..."  
  
"Her," he finished. "It's not her at all. This whole thing...she's obsessed. It's getting a little scary." He picked up his own bag. "But what the hell can I do about it? The only people she listens to anymore are Treize, your brother and..." His lip curled up. "Yuy."  
  
Relena tried to smile. "If I didn't know better, I would say you were jealous."  
  
Duo scowled. "Maybe I am. He's gotten to touch my girlfriend more in the past two weeks than I have." He turned a pleading look on Relena. "Princess...would you do me a favor?"  
  
"What's that?" she asked, suspicious.  
  
"Can you just out right *seduce* Yuy so I can have my girlfriend back?" *Because,* he added to himself. *My efforts don't seem to be getting us anywhere.*  
  
She blinked. "I think you're greatly over-estimating my appeal, Duo."  
  
"No, I'm not. You're hot, princess. I can say this under the defense that I'm a normal guy, girlfriend nonwithstanding. Do you have any idea just how gorgeous you are?" She blushed. "I mean, really, you stand out, even in the corps."  
  
Relena stared at him for a half-second before bursting into laughter. It was impossible to take his words seriously. She tugged his braid. "Come on. You need a hot dog...badly!"  
  
Across the room, Heero pulled off his black shoes and watched Duo and Relena leave together. Her laughter drifting over into his corner had affected him much more than he could ever admit. He ran his fingers through his sweaty hair before lacing up his sneakers and standing up.   
  
"Oh, Mr. Yuy," Treize stopped him before he could leave. "Good rehearsal today. But there's just one thing..." Heero waited for him to go on. "I want you and Miss Schbeiker to schedule some individual rehearsal time outside of class."  
  
Heero frowned. "Is there something wrong? Something we need to work on?"  
  
"Well..." Treize scratched the back of his head. "Technically, you're completely in sync. But there's just something I'm not seeing in the pas de deux. It's lacking...." He searched for a word. "Emotion, I suppose. Feeling. I need to see the love. The passion. Right now, all I'm seeing is two people dancing in time to the music."   
  
"I see. I'll speak to Hilde about it."  
  
The instructor nodded. "See you tomorrow, Mr. Yuy."  
  
****  
  
That night, Hilde expected to receive Duo's call of apology. The only call that came was Heero's, relaying the message from Treize. Hilde agreed to the rehearsal time quickly, eager to free up in the line in case Duo was trying to call. When two hours passed after Heero hung up and the phone hadn't rung once, she began to get worried.   
  
Was it possible that he wasn't going to call to apologize? The thought became more and more likely as more time slipped by. He was angry at her. Hilde stomped around the apartment as she prepared for bed. What right did he have to be mad at her? He was the one acting like an idiot in the middle of the biggest thing that had ever happened to her. If he really cared about her, he would see that.   
  
When she got into bed and turned out the lights, the only thing she could see was the hurt on his face when she had accused him of using dance as a hobby. It was then that she realized her mistake. After his family and her, dancing was the most important thing in Duo's life. To belittle that was to wound him deeper than if she had gouged out his eyes.   
  
Hilde groaned and rolled over onto her side. "I am such a bitch," she informed her ragged teddy bear. "But what am I going to do about it?"  
  
The answer seemed perfectly clear. An apology of her own. Another groan escaped her lips. Should she apologize to Duo? Probably. Could she?  
  
Probably not.  
  
****  
  
"Listen up, seniors." Mr. Berardis crossed his arms over his thin chest and stared down his first period biology class like an old-fashioned school marm. "Quite frankly....your test grades are bringing me down." There was a wave of discontent. "Yeah, you think you're upset hearing that..." He held up a stack of recent quizzes. "Just wait until you get these back."  
  
"Why don't you keep them?" Kyle shouted out, to the amusement of his friends.  
  
Mr. Berardis thumbed through the papers until he reached Kyle's. "Take, for instance, Mr. Longheim's answer to question number three on yesterday's quiz." In his seat, Kyle squirmed uncomfortably. "In response to 'define a virus', he has cleverly written, 'something you catch from gay people'." Snickers filled the room; for the briefest second, Kyle's impenetrable mask of cockiness faltered. "I'll be seeing you after school in detention, by the way, Kyle," the teacher continued.   
  
"So, because my evil scheme to make you learn by sheer terror of a daily pop quiz doesn't seem to be doing much..." He replaced Kyle's quiz in the stack. "I have decided to brush off the oldest teacher trick on the shelf. The final project."   
  
"Final project?" Amanda Masterson wanted to know.   
  
Mr. Berardis smiled. "There's an echo in here. Yes, Amanda, a final project. Audio, visual, written paper, class presentation, the works. Due in three weeks or else you fail. Because I like the way I paired you up as lab partners and I'm too lazy to shuffle you all around, look beside you. The person sitting at your table with you is now your project partner."   
  
Relena and Heero glanced at each other at the same time. Relena was the first to look away and return her attention to the teacher.   
  
"The topic is yours to pick. Just as long as it has something to do with biology." The bell rang out, signaling the end of the period. "Get out of here, all of you."   
  
When most of the students had streamed out of the room, Relena picked up her backpack and approached the front of the room. "Mr. Berardis?"  
  
"What's up, Relena?"   
  
"Um..." She shifted her bag onto her back. "Is there any way I could maybe...I don't know...be paired with someone else?"   
  
The teacher frowned. "Do you and Heero not get along?"  
  
"I just think...that he'd probably want someone else," Relena said, quietly. "That's all."  
  
"Easy way to settle this." Mr. Berardis looked at the back tables. "Heero. Come here for a minute." When Heero had joined them at the front, the teacher addressed him. "Can you work with Relena or are you going to mess up my partner system?"  
  
Heero glanced at Relena. Her eyes were downcast; her arms folded tightly across her uniform sweater-vest. He blinked and made his decision without allowing himself time to think. "I can work with her."  
  
Mr. Berardis looked at his students with satisfaction. "There you go, Relena. Now, scram...both of you. You'll be late."  
  
As they left the biology lab, they headed in the same direction across the courtyard. Heero waited until they were in the open air to speak. "Did you think I didn't want you to be my partner?"  
  
"Yes. I did."  
  
He swallowed a strange lump that sprung into his throat. Why did that cut him so deep? "We work well together. In school. I don't see any reason to change that."  
  
Relena looked up at the sun, peaking out from behind a grey mass of clouds. "All right, then. My mistake."   
  
Heero stopped walking and turned to look at her. "It might have been a little of mine, too." The warning bell rang. He opened his mouth to say more, but she interrupted him.   
  
"See you in rehearsal, Heero." With a little smile, she continued on past him, towards her art class.   
  
He watched her until she disappeared into the building. The clouds enveloped the sun at the same time and the last thing Heero heard before breaking into a run for his history class was the distant rumble of thunder.  
  
****  
  
A thin trickle of sweat ran down Hilde's spine underneath her leotard. She had the overwhelming desire to reach behind her and rub away the slight tickling sensation, but it was rather impossible at that particular moment, seeing as how she was six feet up in the air, over Heero's head.   
  
Outside the studio windows, a steady fall of rain drenched Manhattan, casting a gloomy, grey atmosphere over the city. It fit Hilde's mood. She was not accustomed to being on the receiving end of criticism for her dancing. But it seemed that today, everything she did was wrong. And Treize wasn't hesitant to point it all out to her.   
  
Her feet touched the floor as Heero set her back down and immediately Treize shouted, "Pick up the pace!! You're both lagging behind. The weather is no excuse!"   
  
She bit her lip and took Heero's hand into an arabesque. She held the position as he walked around her, spinning her body as he went. When he made a full circle, Hilde let her heel drop. Heero was already behind her for the next piece of the dance.   
  
"Passion, Miss Schbeiker!! I'm not seeing it!" Treize clapped his hands. "Show me the emotion, not just the movements!"  
  
From the sides where she and the rest of the corps formed a perfect box around Hilde and Heero, Relena bit her lip. Anyone could see that Hilde was trying her hardest. It was undeniable that her technique was perfect. The problem was, Hilde wasn't just trying, she was trying too hard. The effort upstaged the dance.   
  
"Corps, go!" Treize yelled. Relena snapped to attention and ran forward with the other ballerinas. Alternating pirouettes and tiny jumps, they formed a V around Hilde as Heero, as the Prince, moved off to the side to watch Odette's solo piece. As the Baron/Sorcerer who lorded over the swans, Duo slunk in the background, watching the dances and just generally enjoying being evil.   
  
The perspiration on Hilde's throat shone in the studio lights. On her left leg, she performed a series of turns without ever letting her right leg touch the floor. After the last one, she continued going, only this time moving forward down the line of corps ballerinas.   
  
As she passed by Relena, Treize began shouting again. "Faster, Miss Schbeiker. Faster. Flutter. You're a swan! Tighten up those pirouettes."  
  
*Faster,* Hilde told herself. *You're too slow...speed it up.* She put all of her energy into her next turn...and all of her weight on her left foot. *Faster...faster...faster!!* So intent was she on the mantra that for a long minute, it didn't even register that something inside her ankle had torn.   
  
Relena broke formation and ran forward when Hilde's leg gave out and she dropped like a weight to the studio floor. By the time she reached the girl, the pain had caught up with her. Hilde cried out, clutching her left ankle.   
  
Duo dropped his arms the second he heard Hilde's scream. Turning around, he looked past the line of corps members. Hilde was crumpled on the floor, crying. Relena was kneeling beside her, murmuring soothing words. His horrified eyes shot over to Treize and Lucrezia who were running towards Hilde. Even Heero had stopped everything and was watching in utter disbelief.   
  
"Hilde!" Duo pushed through the corps and joined the group of people around his fallen girlfriend.   
  
Tears streamed down her cheeks. "My ankle..." she was telling Treize. "It hurts!"  
  
Treize ran a hand through his ginger curls. The room was silent as the other stunned dancers looked on. He glanced at his choreographer. "Go get the company medic," he told Lucrezia in a low tone. She nodded and was off. Ever so gently, Treize reached for Hilde's leg. "Can you move it at all?"  
  
Hilde shook her head, still crying. "I can't....it hurts too much." Duo knelt behind her and she leaned back against him. "I felt it....tear," she sobbed.  
  
A few minutes passed before Lucrezia returned with the company's sports medicine specialist. Duo held Hilde's hand as the older man examined her ankle. Silence still cloaked the studio. After a minute, the doctor looked Treize directly in the eye. "Call an ambulance."   
  
Relena's heart dropped into her stomach. She stood up and backed away give everyone more room. An ambulance meant only one thing. It was beyond the help of the company medic; it was very bad. She looked across the room at Heero. He wasn't blinking; his chest rose and fell, still catching his breath from the abruptly halted rehearsal.   
  
His piercing eyes met hers. There was fear in his eyes as there was in hers. Dancing injuries were not to be taken lightly. Relena herself had shin splints that still gave her pain every now and then. Heero had dislocated his shoulder three years earlier lifting his first pas de deux partner. In fact, there wasn't a person in the room who hadn't suffered some sort of injury as a result of their art.   
  
But in twelve years of dancing, Relena had never seen anything like what had just happened to Hilde.  
  
The paramedics burst into the studio ten minutes later and immediately lifted Hilde onto a stretcher. Duo grasped her hand, refusing to let go even when ordered by one of the EMTs. "I'm going with her," he said in a tone that left no room for discussion. The medic gave in and nodded.   
  
After the EMTs, Hilde, Duo and Treize were gone, the silence that had plagued the studio broke. Quiet, worried sobs and loud whispers hummed in the air. Lucrezia held her hands to the group. "Everyone," she began. "We're through for the day. Unless otherwise notified, I still expect to see you all tomorrow afternoon." As the students started for their bags, she continued. "Keep Hilde in your thoughts tonight." What she didn't add to that was, *She's going to need all the help she can get.*  
  
****  
  
Millardo took a cab from St. Luke's Hospital on one side of Central Park to his penthouse apartment on the Upper East Side. Martin held the door to the building open for him, but Millardo was too lost in his thoughts to thank the man. He rode the elevator to the top floor in silence and when he stepped off into the grand hallway, Lucrezia was already waiting for him. Waiting for his news.   
  
He had to smile when he saw her; she was too beautiful, even in her loose dance clothes with her dark hair hastily pulled off her face. She went to him, wringing her slender hands. "How is she?"  
  
"They have her traction." Millardo shrugged out of his coat. "But the first set of X-rays...they're not good."   
  
Lucrezia licked her lower lip. "Torn ligaments?"  
  
"Just about every single one," he replied gravely. "The poor child did a number on herself."  
  
"Oh god..." His fiance pressed a hand to her throat. "So...what are they going to do?"  
  
Millardo started for the kitchen, to fix himself a late meal. He had been at the hospital, along with the younger dancer's boyfriend, ever since he had been informed of the accident. Hilde was the top choice for a coveted position in his company upon her graduation, after all. It was his place to help her through this injury.   
  
If she could be helped at all.  
  
"Well," he began. "An orthopedic surgeon is going to go in tomorrow morning for some exploratory surgery. See just how extensive the damage is. And then they'll take it from there."  
  
Lucrezia nodded and handed him a can of soup from the pantry. "I hate even saying this so early on...but where does this leave the workshop?"   
  
He watched the can turn as the electric device on the counter cut open the tin top. "I don't know. Treize and I will discuss it in the morning. There's no set understudy..."  
  
She approached him from behind and slid her arms around his muscled stomach. "Like I said, I was thinking prematurely." She kissed the white cotton shirt covering the flesh between his shoulder blades.  
  
"Love you, Lu," he told her, bring her fingers up to his lips. After a moment, he took his can off the electric opener. "Where is Relena?"  
  
He could almost see her pretty frown as she spoke. "In your studio. Your mother guilted her into practicing." She sighed. "The last thing Relena wanted to do was even look at her pointe shoes tonight."   
  
Millardo turned around and gave her a long kiss. "I'll go tell her she can stop."   
  
"What about your dinner?"   
  
He was already heading towards the tiny rehearsal area he had built when he bought the apartment. "I'm not hungry anymore." Twisting his head, he gave her another smile. "For food, that is." Returning the knowing smile, Lucrezia started for their bedroom.   
  
The music pouring into the hallway from his studio was too loud to be heard over, so Millardo entered without knocking. Relena was dancing like a woman possessed, but it wasn't gentle piano notes that she moved her slender body to, but the fast beats and high energy of the latest pop music. Millardo stopped in the doorway and watched his little sister.   
  
Her movements were fluid and passionate and without flaw. Looking away would have been impossible; her dancing captivated the eye. If she noticed him, which was unlikely, she paid him no attention and kept dancing, moving in perfect rhythm with the music pouring from her radio.   
  
In his sister's dancing, Millardo could see the very deepest part of her soul. Until that moment, she had always hidden it from the world. But it was very clear right now. The pain pent up inside of her, her passions, her sorrows, her frustrations. It was heart wrenching to watch.   
  
Heart wrenching and beautiful.   
  
When the music stopped, Relena let herself slow down to catch her breath. Her chest contracted and expanded with each struggle for air. Perspiration soaked her dark blue leotard and her crown of blond hair. It was then that she noticed her brother watching her. If her cheeks hadn't already been bright pink from her exertions, they would have flushed with sudden embarrassment.   
  
"Millardo." Swallowing, she took a deep breath. "How is...Hilde?"  
  
He saw no sense in lying. "Not good." After he had filled her in on the other girl's condition, there was an awkward pause. "Relena," Millardo carefully began. "Why don't you dance like that in class?"  
  
Relena looked down at her toe shoes. "I...I try. I just...I get so...flustered, I don't..." She stopped. "Millardo, does this all mean that the workshop is through?"   
  
"No." He walked into the room, picked a gym towel off the barre and handed it to her. "Don't worry about it now, all right?" Nodding, she took the towel and patted her neck and forehead. "You just keep dancing like that, little sister."   
  
"Like what?"  
  
He backed out of the room. "Like if you don't, something inside of you would die."   
  
****  
  
To Be Continued 


	8. Come to my window

Disclaimer: You know it like you know the Pledge of Allegiance. Like Puff the Magic Dragon. Like the opening speech of Star Trek. Like the words to Britney Spears' Pepsi commercial (even if you don't admit to that).  
  
Author's Notes: More and more thanks. You guys are so cool! I might not be able to update in the next day or so. Besides my birthday being on the 15th, my parents are having a huge party that I get to help work on, and I use the phrase "get to" loosely. I hope ya'll enjoy!  
  
****  
  
To Dance Beneath the Diamond Sky  
by Kristen Elizabeth  
  
****  
  
Heero tossed and turned in his bed for two hours before he reached for his phone. All he had been able to think about during his solitary dinner, homework and long shower had been Hilde's accident. More specifically, Relena's reaction to Hilde's accident.   
  
Her first instinct had been to run to the other girl. It didn't matter that Hilde had never been particularly friendly to her...in fact, she had always been downright hostile towards the new girl. But in spite of that, Relena had wanted to help Hilde the second she went down. It wasn't in Relena's nature, he had come to understand, to hold a grudge.   
  
And he admired her for it. Already, every other girl in the company had to be dreaming of taking over Hilde's role if she were out of commission until the workshop. But not Relena, Heero had a feeling. Greedy ambition was not in her personality.   
  
For these reasons, he found himself dialing her number. And this time, when someone answered, he didn't hang up.   
  
"Hello?" Relena's sweet voice reached through the phone line.   
  
"Relena," he started, his words halted by the fact that he had no idea what to say. It wasn't as though he had a lot of experience talking to girls on the phone late at night. "It's Heero."   
  
"Heero?"   
  
He bravely continued. "How are you?"  
  
There was a pause. "I'm worried about Hilde."   
  
"Yeah," he replied.   
  
"She was in so much pain," Relena went on. "Millardo didn't tell me much; apparently they won't know more until she has surgery tomorrow."   
  
Heero closed his eyes. "That doesn't sound good."  
  
"It's not." He heard sheets rustling, as though she were climbing in or out of bed. "How are *you* doing, Heero?"  
  
The answer to her question was perhaps his ultimate motivation in calling. But how could he explain the guilt to her? The pressing weight of having seen his partner fall and while realizing that there wasn't anything he could have done, still believing that if he had only been by her side, it never would have happened.   
  
"I couldn't sleep. I'm..." He stopped and looked up at the ceiling over his bed. His next words flowed out of his mouth; whenever he spoke with Relena, he lost some of his control. "I should have protected her. I'm her partner; it's my job to help her and make sure she doesn't get hurt. And I failed...I stood by and I watched her fall and...."  
  
"Heero!" she interrupted him with calm determination. "It's not your fault! You have to know it wasn't your fault; the choreography didn't allow for you to be by her during those pirouettes."  
  
"I know that," he replied, louder than he had intended. "But I just can't be that rational right now."  
  
Her voice was soft. "I understand." There was a pause. "You're a wonderful dancer, Heero. But more than that, you're a good person. I mean...partner." He could almost see her biting her lip. "Well, I mean you're a good person, too, but what I'm trying to say is..."  
  
"Thank you, Relena." The words were simple, but heart-felt.   
  
Another pause followed. It was comfortable, not awkward. Finally, Relena spoke. "Go to your window, Heero."   
  
Frowning, he threw off the covers and got out of bed. It was a short walk to his window. "Why?"  
  
"Just look up at the sky," Relena said. "Are you looking?"  
  
Heero pushed the drapes aside. The moon hung over Manhattan, full and luminous, bathing the uptown buildings in a celestial glow. Without knowing it, he smiled. "It's amazing," he said into the phone.  
  
"Full moon." Relena sighed happily. "There's not many things more beautiful."   
  
"I can think of something."  
  
He could hear the surprise in her next words, as though she were trying to come to terms with his statement. "It's the second day of the full moon, so it's...um....really bright. Sometimes, in Paris, I would have to close my drapes so the light wouldn't..."  
  
"Relena," Heero gently cut her off. "I'm glad you shared your moon with me."   
  
Some of the anxiety left her voice. "Are you going to be able to sleep now?"  
  
"I think so." He paused before hanging up. "Goodnight."  
  
"Goodnight, Heero." Once she had spoken, Heero ended the call. He stared at the moon for a few more minutes before crawling back into bed. His slumber was peaceful and deep; he slept with the knowledge that only a few blocks away, Relena rested under the same gentle light from the moon.  
  
****  
  
The sun, not the moon, roused Duo out of his sleep. That and the sound of a doctor being paged over the hospital intercom system. He lifted his head from its uncomfortable position on his forearms. In the bed he had been using for support, Hilde lay, still sleeping. Although not a critical patient, the hospital had admitted her for the night seeing as how her surgery was scheduled in another few hours.   
  
He rubbed his hands down his face, blinking away the bleariness. He was still clad in his rehearsal clothes; he even still had his ballet slippers on. The nurses looking after Hilde during the night had urged him to go home, but he had steadfastly refused. Hilde's mom still hadn't shown up and he would be damned before she had to wake up in the hospital alone. His parents had understood when he called them after Hilde had fallen asleep.   
  
"Duo?" His name, a whisper on her lips, drew his attention down to her lovely face.   
  
"Hey, babe." Duo reached for her hand. "How're you feeling?"  
  
She tried to sit up. "My ankle hurts. Where's my mom?"  
  
"I called her at work...found the number in your bag." He fiddled with the controls on her bed until she was sitting upright. "They said she might have to pull a double shift."  
  
"In other words, she's not coming." Hilde looked down at the plastic ID bracelet on her wrist and studiously ignored the IV needle protruding from the back of her hand. "That doesn't really surprise me."  
  
Duo smoothed hair away from her forehead. "You're stuck with me, gorgeous."   
  
"But you'll be leaving for school soon." She frowned. "Won't you?"  
  
"Like hell," he replied, cheerfully. "My butt is committed to a plastic chair while you're in there and until you wake up again."   
  
Hot tears pricked her eyes. "Duo, I..." She lowered her eyes again; she couldn't possibly have ever done anything good enough in her life to deserve him. Her throat closed up. "I'm so scared."  
  
"It's going to be okay, babe." He kissed each of her fingers in turn. "I can't make any promises, but they seem to know what they're doing here. I think we can trust them to patch you up and ship you out, good as new, in no time."   
  
She shook her head. "You heard them last night. Everything is torn. I mean...it might be months before I can dance again! The workshop..."  
  
Duo put one of his own fingers to her lips. "Why don't you just worry about now? The future's out of your control, babe."  
  
"You don't get it, Duo. I have to worry about the future. There's only one way out of my neighborhood....out of my life." Hilde pointed to her feet, specifically the one suspended in traction. "If I can't dance in that workshop, I lose that way out and I'll end up just like my..."  
  
"Hilde Schbeiker?" A nurse poked her head through the door. When she saw her patient awake and alert, she pushed the door open the rest of the way. With another nurses' help, she pushed a guerney into the room. "We're going to prep you for the surgery now. There's been a cancellation and the OR is open earlier."   
  
The blood drained out of Hilde's cheeks. "Um...doesn't my mom have to sign some papers or something? I mean, I don't know anything about insurance or things like that."  
  
"She signed them when she stopped by last night," the nurse informed her.  
  
Duo blinked. "Her mom was here? I didn't see her."  
  
"You were both asleep. She said she didn't want to disturb you." The nurse glanced at her watch. "We need to hurry, Hilde."  
  
Hilde glanced at Duo. "Can he stay with me?"  
  
"Only until the OR. Then he'll have to wait in chairs."   
  
Duo ran his fingers through Hilde's hair. "I'm not going anywhere, babe. I swear."   
  
She smiled weakly and looked at the nurses. "All right. I'm ready."   
  
****  
  
"So..." Treize leaned forward across his oldest friend's desk. "What are we going to do?"  
  
Millardo sighed and turned his chair to look out the full-length window. The green of Central Park greeted him, having bloomed seemingly overnight as a result of the steady downpour of the day before. "No matter what the surgeon finds today, having the surgery itself means that Miss Schbeiker will be unable to dance for at least two months. We really don't have a choice, Treize. We're going to have to re-cast."  
  
The advanced classes instructor picked up Millardo's ball-point pen. "Anna has the part completely memorized. She and the Yuy kid would dance well together."  
  
"Anna will be busy with *Giselle*. I don't want her overextending herself."  
  
"Well, you have Sally playing the Queen in *Swan Lake*. And she's in *Giselle*, too," Treize reminded him.  
  
Millardo watched a black bird fly past his window. "The Queen is in the ballet for maybe five minutes and doesn't do any real dancing. Besides, this is a workshop. We're showcasing our advanced class, not the company members."   
  
"I recommended Miss Schbeiker for a reason; she's the best in the class....the only one who could play Odette."  
  
"Actually..." Millardo swiveled his chair back around. "I have someone else in mind. You'll have to trust me, but I know this girl can do it."   
  
Treize lifted a forked eyebrow. "Who is it?"  
  
****  
  
"Relax your fingers, Heero. You're stiff as a board. Good, Marisa...perfect plie. Relena, mind your turnout...that's much better." Lucrezia walked up and down the rows of barres, watching the advanced students warm up. The truth was, she was stalling for time. Treize was late for the class; he and Millardo were still deciding what was to be done about the workshop.   
  
Lucrezia could feel the wave of general disinterest in dancing that day. No word had come from the hospital since Hilde had gone into her surgery and it was starting to weigh heavily on her peers. Instead of trying to actually rehearse, Lucrezia had chosen to walk the students through a regular class, something they hadn't done since the workshop was cast.   
  
She was about to signal for floor exercises when Millardo and Treize entered the studio. The students immediately lowered their arms or legs; the piano stopped. Lucrezia caught her fiancee's eye. His expression was impossible to read.  
  
"All right everyone. Take a seat." Treize indicated the floor. He cleared his throat as the dancers followed his instructions. "I know you all feel Miss Schbeiker's absence and we're all very sorry about what happened to her. The truth is, we have yet to be informed exactly how serious her injury is, although she should be out of her surgery by now."   
  
Millardo took over. "Obviously, no matter what, Miss Schbeiker won't be back, able to dance, in time for the workshop. Don't get worried; we have no intention of canceling. You have all worked too hard and your futures are too promising. Therefore..." He glanced at Treize. "We have chosen a replacement for the lead role of Odette."   
  
Treize nodded. "Taking over for Miss Schbeiker will be..." He paused. "Relena Dorlian."  
  
Every single person turned towards the dancer in question. Relena's face was suddenly the color of chalk, her throat, dry as lint. Unable to meet the accusing glares of the other corps members and the surprised eyes of everyone else, Relena stared at her brother and Treize, uncomprehendingly. "Me?" Her gaze swung over to Lucrezia, the only person in the room smiling. Relena swallowed.   
  
*Oh god...* she thought. *Whatever I did to deserve this....I'm sorry.*  
  
****  
  
By early evening, Hilde had roused herself from the pull of the general anesthesia and was feeling well enough to let Duo spoon-feed her green cafeteria Jello. He was enjoying the chore; Hilde rarely let him pamper her as he would have liked to all the time.   
  
They were both trying to avoid looking at her left leg which was swaddled in a thick layer of white surgical gauze. Hilde no longer resented the IV in her wrist; it was administering a steady drip of painkillers, the only reason there was a smile on her face.   
  
"One more bite?" Duo asked, holding out a jiggling spoonful.  
  
She shook her head, her motions loopy. "Reached my limit. I could use a kiss though."  
  
"Well, I've got plenty of those." He leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers.   
  
Hilde touched his stubbled cheek. "You're just as much fun as Jello."   
  
"It's just because I jiggle, too."  
  
The good mood was spoiled by a sudden knock on the door. Without waiting for a reply, two men in white lab coats entered. Duo set the Jello aside. One doctor pulled up a stool next to Hilde's bed. "Hi, Hilde. I'm Dr. Amos. How are you feeling? Are you in any pain?"  
  
"No, I'm okay." Hilde took a breath. "Are you the doctor who did the surgery?"  
  
Dr. Amos nodded. "Myself and my colleague, Dr. Tamaki, performed the procedure this morning, yes." He paused. "Has your guardian arrived yet?"  
  
Duo took her hand. "Mrs. Schbeiker is at work," he explained.  
  
The doctors nodded, as if this were an interesting fact. "Well then..." Dr. Amos held out his hand for the manila envelope Dr. Tamaki carried. "Let's discuss what we found." He extracted an X-ray of Hilde's ankle and held it up to the light. "Now, like you've been told, you tore more than one ligament. In fact, Hilde, you ripped two of them right away from the bone."   
  
She swallowed. "You can repair torn ligaments...right?"  
  
"Yes, we can. And we can repair the damage to yours. It will take a long, complicated operation, but it can be done." Dr. Amos lowered the X-ray. "What we need to talk about is what comes after the reparation. I understand that you're a dancer?"  
  
"Ballet, yeah." Hilde glanced back and forth between the two surgeons. "I understand that I won't be able to dance for awhile."  
  
"Hilde..." Dr. Amos removed his glasses. "You won't be able to *walk* for a long time. It's going to take months of physical therapy after the operation."  
  
Hilde blinked. "Okay, so it'll be more than a few months before I can dance."   
  
"No. I'm sorry, Hilde. With an injury of this magnitude...your ankle will never be strong enough to support you. You'll walk again for sure, not without some pain, though. But other, more strenuous activities...they just won't be possible." Dr. Amos' eyes were genuinely remorseful. "I'm sorry," he repeated. "But you won't ever be able to dance again."  
  
****  
  
To Be Continued 


	9. The tracks of my tears

Disclaimer: Sigh...the usual;)  
  
Author's Notes: I can't think of any more ways to thank everyone for their continued support of this story, as well as all the sweet birthday wishes. You are a fabulous audience;) PS: I apologize for this chapter being so short.  
  
****  
  
To Dance Beneath the Diamond Sky  
by Kristen Elizabeth  
  
****  
  
"I danced from the moment I could stand." -Anna Pavlova  
  
"Thousands of emotions well up inside of me throughout the day. They are released when I dance." -Unknown  
  
****  
  
Duo had just finished rinsing out his waist-long hair when he heard his name being shouted over the noise of the shower. He turned off the water and stepped out. After securing one towel around his waist and another around his hair, he poked his head out of the bathroom.   
  
His mother stood in the hallway, holding out the phone. "It's a girl named Relena."   
  
Smiling weakly, Duo took the phone and retreated into his bedroom. Making sure that his blinds were pulled, he let the towel around his waist fall. "Hello?" he said into the phone.  
  
"Duo, hi." Relena's voice was high and breathless. "I'm sorry to bother you."  
  
"Not a bother, princess." Balancing the phone between his shoulder and ear, Duo reached into a drawer for a pair of faded plaid boxers. "Didja miss me in class?"  
  
"You and Hilde." There was a pause. "How is she?"  
  
Duo sat down on the edge of his bed with a sigh. "They told her earlier...she won't ever dance again, princess."  
  
"Oh god!" Relena cried. "Oh god...I was hoping...that she would be all right."  
  
"She will be. Just not right enough to ever dance." Duo unwound the towel on his head; a damp chestnut mass spilled onto his bare back. "Don't ask me how she's taking it; she hasn't spoken since they told her."   
  
Relena sniffed, an audible attempt to keep her tears at bay. "I wish there was something I could do for her. I know she doesn't like me, but..."  
  
"Hilde doesn't dislike you, princess. She's just..." He started dragging a comb through his wet locks. "You gotta understand. Hilde grew up in Brooklyn. Her dad died when she was eight and left nothing. Her mom's been working two jobs, sometimes three ever since. Hilde started working to help with the bills when she was fourteen. The only thing good thing in her life has been her dancing; she's been doing it since she was five at a community center. I met her when we both got into the Conservatory." Duo took a breath. "The rest of us....you, me, Yuy....we have things to fall back on. Hilde doesn't. Dancing is...was her way out."   
  
"There's no way she'll be able to do it again?"  
  
"That's what they're saying," he replied. "I'm heading back to the hospital for a few hours. Even if she isn't up to talking about it, I have a feeling she'll need something to cry against." Duo attempted a smile. "I intend to offer her my shoulder."  
  
Relena made a soft sound of amusement. "You know, Hilde might not realize it, but dancing isn't the only good thing she has in her life. She has you."   
  
Duo shook his head. "Shucks, little swan lady...." After a moment, he frowned. "Say, what's going on with the workshop? They're not canceling it, are they?"  
  
There was hesitation on the other end. "No. They want to re-cast Odette, though."  
  
"Ah, good." Duo tossed his comb aside. "Who'd they pick?"   
  
Relena delicately cleared her throat. "You'll probably want to sit down for this one."  
  
****  
  
The sun streaming through the window of the hospital and playing across the narrow bed and the girl curled up in it was mocking. It should have been raining, snowing, hailing...anything but the annoying warmth and cheerfulness of the afternoon sunlight.   
  
Hilde closed her eyes to block out the rays. There was no one there at the moment to close the blinds; she would have to endure it for now. Her left leg throbbed, just one small part of her overall misery. She reached for the button to call a nurse, but let her hand fall before it could do so. The pain reminded her that she was still alive.   
  
There was a knock on the door. Hilde turned her head; perhaps whoever it was would just leave. She would have no such luck. A moment later, the door opened and Duo burst in carrying a huge arrangement of daises and lilies.   
  
"Hi, babe!" His voice was overly energetic, as though he were trying to make up for the melancholy that saturated the room. Approaching her bed, he bent down and kissed her forehead. "Picked these up on my way over here. Do you like?"  
  
Hilde said nothing.   
  
"Okay." Duo set the flowers down on the little tray beside her bed and shrugged out of his leather jacket. "Next time...roses." There was a moment's pause. "How are you feeling, baby?" She lifted her shoulders. "Better, eh?" Duo winked. "Good! At this rate, you'll be out of this place in no time."   
  
When she still didn't acknowledge him, he walked to the window, seeming to revel in the sunlight that Hilde despised. "It's so gorgeous outside. I wonder how much I'd have to give the nurses before they'd let me take you out there...." He turned back around. "Interested?" Hilde shook her head.   
  
Duo hesitated, but only for a half-second. "Do you need anything? I could turn the TV on...I could get you more Jello....more kisses...." He sighed. "Perform an Irish jig? Just talk to me, Hilde. Please."  
  
She closed her eyes again. "There's nothing you can do for me," she finally said. "There's nothing anyone can do for me."  
  
"Baby..." Duo crossed back over to the bed and sat on the edge, taking her hand in his despite her efforts to pull away. "If I could, I'd bargain with God and get him to rip up *my* ankle so you could dance forever. But I can't. The only things I've got are daisies and kisses and that Irish jig. If you don't want any of that, just tell me and I'll get out of your hair."  
  
Hilde's cornflower eyes flooded with hot tears. Her hand tightened around his. "Why was it me, Duo? I have tried so hard...I've done everything right when my whole life has been so wrong... So, what did I do to deserve this? That's what you can do for me. Tell me why this is happening to me!!"  
  
"Maybe..." He looked down at their joined hands. "Maybe there's something else in your life that you're supposed to do...that you never would have if everything had gone to plan."   
  
She wasn't quite ready to accept that yet. After looking away for a long time, she turned her gaze back onto him. "What are they doing about the workshop?"  
  
Duo cleared his throat. "Do you like the flowers here, by your bed? Or maybe they'd do better in the sun. I could drag the tray thing over there and..."  
  
Hilde frowned. "Duo, I asked you a question."  
  
"I wonder if they have green Jello again; I could get you some. Have I ever shown you my Jurassic Park Jello trick? It's basically just that thing the girl did to make her spoon jiggle when she saw that raptor coming towards the..."  
  
"Duo!" Hilde raised the back of her bed up a bit more. "The workshop?"  
  
He sighed before rubbing his eyes. "Hilde-baby...I'm torn. I'm afraid that if I tell you, it'll just make it all the worse for you to..."  
  
"Please, Duo." Her eyes were wet. "I need to know."  
  
After a second's contemplation, Duo brought her hand up to his lips, as though the gesture would cushion the shock of the news. "They want to re-cast Odette." Hilde's fingers tightened around his hand. "And they want Relena."  
  
The minutes of silence that followed were unbearable. Rather than wait for her reaction, whatever it might have been, Duo plunged on. "It's your part, babe. No one's denying that, especially not Relena." He paused. "It could be worse. They could want Cata-lonely-a. I mean, at least it's someone we like." Duo tried one more time with a simple, "I'm so sorry, baby."  
  
He was about to try again when Hilde spoke in a soft, wounded voice. "Am I that easily replaced?"  
  
"No one could ever replace you," he immediately replied.   
  
Hilde bit her lip, digging down into the flesh until she nearly broke the skin. "How am I supposed to react to this? What would be the graceful way to accept it? Is there one? Because all I want to do right now is grab something and..." Her fingers squeezed his; he winced slightly. "Not only have I lost everything that I've tried for my whole life, I've lost it to someone who couldn't dance her way out of a paper bag!"  
  
"That's a little..."  
  
"A little what, Duo?" Her teary eyes narrowed. "A little harsh? A little unfair? What do you want from me? I'm not just going to shrug my shoulders and say 'that's life'." She released his hand with more force than necessary. "I hate her!!" she cried. "She took it from me...when she already has so much..."  
  
Duo reached to embrace her, grabbing her wrists when she struggled against his arms. "You can hate the situation. You can hate Treize. You can hate Millardo. Hell....you can hate me if it makes you feel any better. But Relena is just as shocked and just as upset as you are about all of this. Do you think she wanted this?"  
  
"Of course she wanted this!" Hilde gave him the look she generally reserved for drunk people on the subways and fundamentalist Christians. "Are you an idiot? Every single girl in that class *loved* watching me fall, thinking they'd be the one picked to take my place. Relena's no different! In fact, she's worse, because she never would have gotten it if she weren't the director's sainted little..."  
  
"Stop it!" Duo's violet eyes flashed. "You have no idea what you're talking about! You're hurt and you have every right to be angry. But taking it out on Relena....there's no point in doing that. She doesn't deserve your hate."   
  
Hilde's leg throbbed, distracting her momentarily. The enormity of the day caught up with her in the space of a second. Her anger melted into the stream of her sorrow and self-pity. Tears came faster; her shoulders sagged under the weight of too much feeling. "It's not fair!" she screamed, sobbing. "It's all gone...everything!! My whole life is over!"   
  
Duo climbed into her bed to pull her further into his arms. She protested but only for a second; after a moment, she collapsed against him, her sobs muffled by his chest. He stroked her short curls, rocking her gently as she continued to cry. "It's going to be okay," he whispered, dropping a kiss onto the top of her head. "I'm here."   
  
She shook her head against the warmth of his body. At the moment, it wasn't enough.  
  
****  
  
Relena had her foot propped up on the low bench that ran between the rows of lockers in the girls changing room and was adjusting her pink tights when she heard the voices. Three girls changing into their leotards in the next row over; she had seen them when she had arrived.   
  
Apparently, they hadn't seen her.   
  
"I just don't get it. Why her?" One girl whom she didn't recognize asked out loud.   
  
The second girl was recognizable beyond a shadow of doubt. "Isn't it obvious? She had to have fucked Treize," Dorothy Catalonia replied.   
  
"Oh, that is so tacky!" The third girl slammed a locker door. "What a slut."  
  
"It is pretty sad. I mean, her own brother didn't cast her in anything better than the corps....I guess she figured she had to go that extra mile." Dorothy laughed. "She probably jumped Treize as soon as class was over after Hilde fell."  
  
The third girl giggled. "If she hadn't done it earlier. How do you think she got into the class in the first place? It certainly couldn't have been her technique."  
  
"What really makes me mad is that now she gets to dance with Heero." The first girl sighed dramatically. "I have done everything to get him to notice me and all I've ever gotten was a vague nod."   
  
"We're sure he's straight, right?" the third girl laughed.  
  
"Oh...he's straight," Dorothy said with confidence in her voice. "Believe me..." From her place leaning against the lockers, Relena froze.  
  
The first girl gasped. "Have you and Heero...?"  
  
Dorothy pounded her toe shoes against the wooden bench. "It was just this little summer thing in the Hamptons last year."   
  
"Oh my god, you have to tell me *everything*!" the first girl squealed. "Is he as good a kisser as you'd think?"  
  
"Sweetie..." Dorothy's voice was low and experienced. "He's good at it all." There was a pause. "I ran into him at a this huge bonfire on the beach one weekend. Did you know that his dad has this amazing house...well, that's not really important. We started talking dance, but pretty soon he was all over me. Well, I wasn't about to say no; you've seen the bulge in his tights."  
  
The third girl snorted. "Why do you think I keep coming to class every day?"  
  
Relena looked down at her hands; they were shaking. For once, her brain and heart had the same thought....she needed to get out of there. But she found she couldn't move as Dorothy continued her story.  
  
"He's one of those guys who just knows what to do," she went on. "I can't even remember how many times I came; it was that damn good." She gave a content sigh.   
  
"What happened once you got back to the city?" the first girl asked.   
  
Dorothy zipped up her bag. "That, darling, is private."  
  
The third girl grumbled. "So unfair..." There was a second's pause before, "Shit! We're going to be late!! Treize'll freak!"  
  
Relena held her breath as the girls scrambled out of the locker room. When she thought the coast was clear, she slumped down to the concrete floor. The new information about Heero had yet to completely sink into her mind. The sound of a voice over her snapped her to full attention.   
  
"Did you like my story?" Dorothy asked, her arms smugly crossed over her black leotard.   
  
"Was it just that? A story?" Relena licked her dry lips.   
  
Dorothy shook a manicured finger at her. "If I wanted to lie about having fucked someone, I'd pick a more important, influential partner. Your brother, for instance. I could totally ride that..."  
  
Relena put her hands over her ears. "Please go away."  
  
The other girl smiled wickedly. "You know you don't deserve all of this, don't you? You're a second rate dancer trying to fill shoes that are way too big for you. How are you going to look trying to dance him? I'll tell you." She bent over slightly. "Ridiculous." Relena closed her eyes and turned her head. Dorothy straightened back up. "Think about that before you step into the studio today."   
  
Relena listened to the wooden clap of her toe shoes and the sound of the locker room door slamming shut. A single tear slipped down her cheek. She wasn't quite sure why though. Dorothy wasn't lying....about any of it. She was an inferior dancer and she would look ridiculous trying to dance with Heero.   
  
And as for Heero...it wasn't as if he owed her anything. They had only shared one full moon.   
  
She wiped the evidence of the tear away from her smooth cheek and stood back up. After slinging her bag over her back, she followed the path Dorothy had taken out of the changing area. When she emerged into the main hallway that led to the studios, Heero was waiting for her. Leaning against the wall beside the door to the girls dressing room, he looked like a rebel without a cause.   
  
Relena refused to meet his eyes. "Why aren't you in class warming up, Heero?"   
  
He unfolded his arms and pushed off the wall. "I wanted to talk to you before we got in there."   
  
"About what?" She bit her tongue. **Do you think I'm a bad choice for the role, too?**  
  
Heero looked down at his scuffed rehearsal shoes. "Well...because of all of this...we're going to have spend more time together. You have so much catching up to do....I was thinking we should ask Mr..."  
  
She cut him off. "Listen, Heero. You don't have to bother Treize."   
  
He frowned. "Treize? What does he have to do with our science..."  
  
But Relena had stopped listening to him. "And you don't have to worry about being embarrassed by me during the workshop," she continued. "I don't know why my brother and Mr. Treize decided to cast me, but it was obviously the biggest mistake they've ever made."  
  
"Relena..."  
  
She shook her head. "You don't have to apologize to me, Heero. I know my limitations. So, like I said, you don't have to worry about anything."  
  
"I don't?" Heero raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking..."  
  
"You don't have to worry..." Relena repeated. "...because I have no intention of dragging you down with me." She took a breath. "I'm not going to play Odette. They can just find someone else."   
  
****  
  
To Be Continued 


	10. Prelude to a kiss

Disclaimer: Always the same.   
  
Author's Notes: So many more thanks;) I really appreciate every comment and review. I do. I hope I can keep on giving you fun things to read;)   
  
****  
  
To Dance Beneath the Diamond Sky  
by Kristen Elizabeth  
  
****  
  
Heero stared at her for a long time after her declaration. Her eyes were wet with unshed tears; her full, rosy bottom lip quivered ever so slightly. It suddenly occurred to him that he missed the real Relena. The laughter she gave Duo, the healthy glow in her cheeks when they had gone swing dancing, the soft lilt of the European accent that had echoed in her voice over the phone. The girl in front of him was too sad....something had to be done to bring back the Relena he was all too quickly falling for.   
  
He reached out and touched her chin to steady it. "Do you really think you're not good enough to play Odette."   
  
"Yes." But with the weight of his Prussian blue stare boring down onto her, the affirmation was less than convincing.   
  
"Why do you think that?"  
  
Relena's tongue darted out to wet her lips. Heero blinked, momentarily shaken by the sight. "Well..." she started. "You've seen me in class. I trip...I stumble...I never get enough height on my jumps...my turnout is inconsistent." Her eyes lowered. "You know...that I can't do it, Heero."  
  
"I know that you think you can't," he corrected her. "But I don't think I've ever seen you really dance. I've seen you get nervous and make mistakes." Heero let his fingers fall from her chin. "I'd like to see you dance Odette...really dance her. With me. What do you say?"  
  
She looked up into eyes, but saw no mocking or condescension in their depths. All she saw looking back down at her was honesty with a tinge of a challenge. Eyes that she could trust. Relena's gaze darted away. They were also eyes that had seen Dorothy Catalonia on a beach...  
  
"All right," Relena finally said. "I will dance Odette." She swallowed. "But not for you. For me."   
  
Heero nodded. "That's how it should always be."   
  
Relena stepped away from him. "After all, you're the one with something to lose. Everyone already expects me to look ridiculous on stage." She paused to hold back her next words, but they pushed their way out of her mouth. "This is your last chance to lobby for someone else. I'm sure Dorothy would make a good swan princess."   
  
Heero frowned. "Why Dorothy?"  
  
"I don't know..." She idly pressed the satin toe of her pointe shoe into the tiled floor. "I just got the impression that you two had...um...history."  
  
He didn't say anything for a moment. "It doesn't have any bearing on her ability to dance."   
  
Relena heart thudded in her chest. That should have been his moment of clarification, when he proved Dorothy's words wrong and declared his innocence. Her mood took another nose-dive. So...the other girl hadn't been lying. "I suppose it doesn't."   
  
Right then, the door to their studio opened and Treize stuck his head out, searching. When he spotted his two principal dancers, he frowned. "Mr. Yuy....Miss Dorlian," he called out. "Take your time. Really...forty people aren't waiting for you at all."  
  
Heero indicated for Relena to walk ahead of him. She did so with her back straight, her chin level, presenting a picture of calm determination. Inside, she was a wreck.   
  
Her perfect posture fooled everyone but Heero. As Treize and Lucrezia started the tedious process of teaching Relena everything it had taken Hilde nearly a month to learn, he watched her carefully. His history with Dorothy...what had brought that up? If you could even call a few drunken kisses after a fight with his father at their house in the Hamptons a history. It hadn't taken him long to sober up enough to stop things; Dorothy's hand on his thigh had been like a cold shower and a dozen cups of coffee. They hadn't really spoken since.   
  
At least, to each other. When he caught the distrust in Relena's eyes and the tenseness in her slender body when he lifted her, Heero had to wonder just how much talking Dorothy had been doing with everyone else.  
  
****  
  
"Duo?"   
  
He lifted his head from its sleeping position on Hilde's arm and blinked sleepily at the woman standing on the other side of the hospital bed. "Mrs. Schbeiker?"  
  
Katja rubbed her forearm and tugged on the sleeve of her waitress uniform. "How is she doing?" she asked nervously.   
  
"She's...um..." Duo searched his girlfriend's sleeping face. How could he tell the woman that her daughter was hanging over the very sharp edge of depression. "She's still adjusting to the news."  
  
"Oh my baby..." Katja sat on the edge of the bed and stroked Hilde's cheek. "My poor baby."  
  
"She really could've used you today," Duo continued, with more reprimand in his voice than probably should have been.   
  
Hilde's mother looked down at her stained, pink dress. "I would have been here the whole time if I could have been. But at least...she had you." She took her daughter's hand. "She's very lucky in that respect."  
  
Duo scowled. "Everyone keeps saying that. But I'm not some knight on a white horse, you know. Hilde's going to be okay and she's going to be okay because she's really strong. Not because she has me to lean against."   
  
Katja let the boy get the thoughts off his chest before she nodded. "Of course." She glanced at the clock on the wall. "Go home, Duo. I'm sure your parents miss you. I can stay with her for the rest of the night."   
  
He hesitated. It was the first time he had ever seen Hilde's mother act like a real mother. "They're going to release her in the morning..."  
  
"I think I can manage to get her home."  
  
"But, she'll be on crutches and painkillers and..."  
  
"Duo." The older woman's voice was firm. "I need to do this for Hilde. You've done more than enough already."   
  
Duo looked down at his sneakers. "Not really. But okay." He stood up and kissed Hilde's forehead. "Tell her I'll be over to see her tomorrow after ballet class. Wait, no...don't mention ballet class. Just tell her I'll be there after I...um...get my hair cut. No....after I...."  
  
"I've got it," Katja smiled. "Goodbye, Duo."  
  
He started for the door and turned back to see Katja adjusting her body next to Hilde's on the bed. She tucked her arm under her daughter's body and rested her chin on her dark curls. Duo smiled and left the tiny hospital room.  
  
****  
  
Relena debated calling Quatre that night and pouring out every woe to her old friend, but somehow, she couldn't bring herself to dial the international number. Instead, she seated herself at her desk, withdrew the pink stationary her mother had insisted she have, although the entire world relied on the speed of email, and began to write him a letter. It took a long time; her French was better when she spoke than when she wrote.   
  
"'I don't understand why I was chosen'," she wrote to him in her flowered script. "'Sometimes I think it would be better for everyone if I just declined the role. But I suppose it's too late for that now. I am Odette. And Hilde, poor Hilde who should have the role and is so unhappy...I feel like I've wronged her somehow. Have I, Quatre?'" Relena lowered her pen for a moment before signing her name with a flourish.   
  
As an afterthought, she took up the pen again and added a postscript. "'I miss you so much. You're the only man in my life who doesn't confuse me. Call me when you get this letter. Or better yet, fly to see me...but not on the weekend of the workshop. Trust me...you'll have better things to do.'"  
  
She folded up the letter, placed it in a matching envelope that bore the address of Quatre's father's chateau just outside of Paris and set it aside to be mailed in the morning. After a quick trip to her private bathroom to scrub her face and brush her teeth, Relena wandered back to her bed and sat down to set her alarm for six AM.   
  
The knock on her bedroom window nearly sent her into cardiac arrest. She dropped the sheets in her hand and spun around to face the lace curtains. There was a shadowed figure outside; for the first time, she cursed the fire escape. Wasn't there a more practical way to get out of the building in an emergency, instead of one that left her open to the city's predators?   
  
"Who's there?" Relena called out, unable to hide the wobble of fear in her voice.   
  
The reply was muffled through the glass and lace. "Don't be afraid, Relena. It's me." There was a pause. "Heero."  
  
Her heart dropped another inch, but this time, it wasn't from fright. "Heero?" She approached the window with much caution and drew the curtains aside. Heero, indeed, was the person crouched on the wrought iron platform. She pushed open the window panes, forcing him back on his heels. "What the hell are you doing here?"  
  
She had never cursed in his presence before. Heero blinked. "Um...I wanted to see you."  
  
The simple words succeeded in stopping her heart for a moment. "You...you wanted to see me? This late at night?" Relena swallowed. "You could have called...."  
  
"I could have." Heero looked up at the night sky. "It's not a full moon anymore, but it's still nice. Don't you want to see it?"  
  
She sighed, a mixture of exasperation and longing. "I couldn't just see it from the window?"  
  
He shook his head and held out his hand. "Come on."   
  
"I'm in my pajamas..." Relena pulled at the strap of her tank top.   
  
"I'll give you a minute to get dressed."  
  
She propped her hands up on her hips. "What's gotten into you?"  
  
Heero looked down at the iron floor of the fire escape. "Today in class...you looked so...lost. I know what it's like to be lost."  
  
"You do?" Her voice was a whisper.   
  
He nodded and glanced back up at her. "So, will you come out? To the park?"  
  
Relena hesitated for another moment before finally giving in. "Hold on." She left him at the window and disappeared into her walk in closet, re-emerging a moment later dressed in jeans, a zippered navy sweatshirt and sneakers. After grabbing her keys, she climbed out the window and joined Heero on the fire escape. "I can't believe I'm doing this," she told him out loud. What she didn't express to him was the vague sense of excitement that had suddenly overcome. Sneaking out to Central Park with a gorgeous guy in the middle of the night....  
  
The thrill threatened to block out all her common sense. Relena had to steer herself back to what she knew about Heero. What she had learned about him that very day.   
  
Heero offered her his hand again and helped her down the fifteen flights of escape stairs. They received more than one strange look from the people in the building who's windows were open; Relena prayed that none of them recognized her and called up to her brother.   
  
When they reached the street, a taxi was waiting for them; it was quite a ways to Central Park. In the cab, Relena had a thought. "Heero...um...how did you know which window was mine?"  
  
"Process of elimination," he replied. "I knew your building and floor from the student directory. I took a gamble that yours would be the window with lace curtains."   
  
She had to smile. "It could have been my brother's room. He is a ballet dancer. Or was, anyways."  
  
"I can't see Millardo with lace." Heero shrugged. "I made the right guess, didn't I?"  
  
"Yeah, you did."   
  
They were quiet the rest of the way to the park. Heero paid the taxi driver and the cab sped off into the night. Relena looked at the impenetrable green wall of Central Park with a fair amount of apprehension. "Is this safe?" she asked him.  
  
"As safe as anything is in the city." Heero reached for her hand and was a bit surprised when she didn't automatically take it. "I want to show you my favorite spot."   
  
Relena followed close by him as he led her down a small path towards the center of the park. After few minutes of silence, Heero cleared his throat. "Do you trust me?"   
  
She blinked. "Why? What are you about to do?"  
  
"Nothing," he replied. "I meant, overall. Do you trust me?"   
  
"I..." Relena kicked a pebble with the toe of her sneaker. "I don't know you very well..."  
  
"You don't trust me, then." His voice was more than a little disappointed.   
  
"It's not you," she emphasized. "I've never been very good at pas de deux class. Especially since..." Her mouth abruptly closed. "I'll try to do better....with the lifts and stuff."   
  
Heero frowned. "What were you going to say before you stopped?"  
  
Relena shook her head, her dark blond ponytail whipped against her cheeks as she quickly changed the subject. "So, where is this favorite spot?"   
  
"Just up ahead." He let the topic drop; evidently she didn't wish to talk about it. "I think the boys are going to be there tonight."   
  
"The boys?"  
  
Heero glanced over at her. "You'll see."  
  
They came out of the forest of trees and jogging paths into a wide open space that surrounded a beautifully carved stone fountain and were greeted by the haunting notes of a saxophone. On the other side, a brass quartet was set up, playing to the late night strollers and power-walkers.   
  
"The boys," Heero informed her. "Ed, Bill, Samson and Dewey. They're out here almost every night. I discovered them when I was thirteen."   
  
"What were you doing out in the park this late at night when you were thirteen?" she asked, a twinkle in her blue eyes.  
  
Heero cleared his throat. "I just...had to get out of the house one night." He reached for her hand again. "I'll introduce you when their set is..." He trailed off when, again, she refused to take his hand. "Relena...have I done something wrong?" The hand he had offered her reached up to scratch the back of his head. "I'm not very good at this sort of thing, I know. But I didn't think I was scaring you. Am I scaring you?"  
  
Relena looked up at the sky; the waning moon stared down at them. "I'm just not sure why...why you asked *me* out here...." She took a breath. "...when Dorothy Catalonia is so....accommodating."   
  
"I had a feeling she had something to do with this." Heero sighed and looked beyond the fountain to where his quartet was beginning B.B. King's, "Please Love Me". "I'm not sure what she told you, but whatever it was..."  
  
"You don't have to explain yourself to me, Heero," she interrupted him. "Your sexual history is so entirely *not* my business."  
  
Heero sighed. "I didn't have sex with Dorothy."  
  
Relief washed over her at the simple statement. "Really?" she finally said. "But she told me..."  
  
"She told you what she's probably told everyone." He gritted his teeth. "I can't decide if it would be better to be thought of as gay or having had sex with that...." After a pause, he continued. "It was a few minutes of bad judgement from too much alcohol. That's all."   
  
"Oh." Relena bit her lip. "I'm sorry I believed her, Heero."   
  
He lifted his shoulder, dismissing the incident. A moment passed. The night around them was cool; a sweet breeze pushed the gently wailing strains of the brass band over to them. Relena closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Spring was upon them and the park smelled like fresh flowers and clean earth.   
  
Heero watched her enjoy the moment. Her dark, thick lashes rested against her smooth cheeks; her lips parted slightly, moist and pink. He swallowed. She was too lovely to be real. He had the sudden fear that if he pinched himself, he would wake up in his bed with his father pounding on the door, calling him a....  
  
Relena reached for his hand, entwining her fingers with his and unknowingly driving away his demons for the time being. He spoke before he thought, a habit he had formed in the weeks he had known her. "Dance with me?"   
  
"Yes," she replied softly.   
  
He led her closer to the band and received greeting smiles and approving winks from the four men. Hoping the darkness would hide his pink-tinged cheeks, Heero put his hand around Relena's small waist. Just like at the swing club, she placed her own hand on his muscled shoulder. Their free hands remained clasped together as they began to dance.  
  
They moved perfectly with each other and with the music. Relena gave herself up to the magic of her surroundings; there were no awkward fumbles or missed steps. She and Heero danced as one and it was so perfect that other couples doing the same stopped to watch. Taking the initiative, Relena rested her cheek on his collarbone.   
  
Heero inhaled the scent of roses from her hair; the delicate, fragrant flowers suited her. His hand moved up to press against her lower back, drawing her even closer to his body. He had the overwhelming urge in that moment to feel those pink lips against his own. To do so, he pulled back slightly and moved his arm around her to lift up her chin.   
  
She met him with a dreamy smile. When he closed his eyes and lowered his lips to hers, her only hesitation was internal. Relena responded to his kiss with equal passion, ignoring her brain's cry to slow down. She would not let Jean-Paul ruin her first real kiss with the memory of his own forced ones. Heero's lips were gentle and although eager, they were not demanding.   
  
The kiss didn't end until the final notes of the song faded into the breeze. Heero drew back, completely intoxicated by the taste of her lips and more content than he could ever remember being.   
  
Relena opened her eyes. "Heero," she whispered. "I don't feel lost anymore."  
  
He smiled. "Neither do I."  
  
****  
  
To Be Continued 


	11. Open your heart to me

Disclaimer: I only thought of the idea, not the characters. They belong to people with lawyers and money.   
  
Author's Notes: I sincerely apologize for the delay in updating this story. I hit a very stressful patch of the semester and had little free time to myself. I do appreciate all the reviews and emails about the story. I wish could reply to every single one. Just know that I am deeply grateful for everyone's interest in the story. I hope you continue to read and enjoy;) I'll try to close the gap between updates from now on.   
  
****  
  
To Dance Beneath the Diamond Sky  
by Kristen Elizabeth  
  
****  
  
"Love is a lot like dancing; you just surrender to the music." -Pierce Brosnon  
  
"To touch, to move, to inspire. This is the true gift of dance." -Aubrey Lynch  
  
****  
  
The next week passed in a happy blur for Relena. From the moment she had woken up the morning after her romantic encounter with Heero in Central Park, a smile had graced her lips. Nothing, not her mother's insipid breakfast chatter, her brother's complaining about the company's budget, Lucrezia's attempt to get her to eat more, nothing had been able to wipe the smile away.   
  
Ironically, only the thought of seeing Heero again had threatened to end her good mood. There had been a moment of panic when she had entered biology class that day. Would he close back up? Shut her out just when he had let her in? She wasn't sure she could take his rejection.  
  
But she needn't have worried. When she slid into her seat next to him and allowed herself a small, sideways glance in his direction, he was already staring at her, a knowing look in the Prussian blue depths of his eyes. And when he smiled at her, not a dopey grin, but a sexy little affair meant only for her eyes, Relena's knees wobbled underneath the desk. A warmth spread through her body. It had taken all of her willpower to concentrate on that day's lesson.   
  
It was amazing, Relena thought as she pulled on her toe shoes a week later, how much one kiss could change things. The most sought-after guy in their class was her boyfriend. The most sought-after role in the world was hers to dance. There was only one cloud that hung over her. Hilde.   
  
"What are you thinking about over here?" Heero sat on the floor next to her, his black slippers in his hand.   
  
"They're doing the real surgery today," she reminded him with a sigh.   
  
"I thought things were quiet around this place. I should have noticed Maxwell's not here right away."  
  
Relena allowed herself a small smile. "He wouldn't be anywhere else but by her side today. Oh, I hope they manage to fix everything. Even just enough to ensure that she can dance again....that would be enough."   
  
Heero nodded. "I hope so, too." After only a moment of lingering hesitation, he leaned in and kissed her softly. It still amazed him, after only a week, that he was able to do it. Just lean in and kiss. Kiss his girlfriend. Drawing back, he touched her cheek. "Do you still want to come over tonight?"   
  
"Oh, yes. We absolutely have to do the bio project before dress rehearsals start," Relena reminded him. She reached down and played with the loop of ribbons around her ankle. "I had to do a bit of...creative cover-up with my mother about it, though. I told her you were a girlfriend."   
  
"I'm sorry you had to lie to her."   
  
Relena lifted one shoulder, carelessly. "I'm not. If you ever meet my mother, you'll see why."   
  
"All right, everyone!" Across the room, Treize clapped his hands. "If I don't see some dancers on the floor in two minutes..." He left the threat empty.   
  
Heero tugged on his shoes, stood up and offered a hand to Relena. Rather than just pulling her to her feet, he pulled her into his arms. She laughed and hugged him for a brief moment. He smelled so good. Soap and something else. Something indefinable. Something entirely Heero.   
  
"Get a fucking room," Dorothy snapped as she passed them on her way to join the rest of the corps.   
  
Relena took a breath. "Green isn't a good color on you, Dorothy," she sweetly informed the girl.   
  
Dorothy turned on her. "If you think for a moment that I'm jealous of..."  
  
Glaring at Dorothy, Heero gently pulled on his girlfriend's hand. "Come on, Relena. We don't have time for her."   
  
Relena let him lead her over to their starting place for their first pas de deux. "Remind me again why you kissed her."   
  
"I was preoccupied at the time," he replied, positioning her arms while she was lost in her anger. "And really drunk." He took her hand and moved into his own starting position. "Someday you'll have to tell me about your first kiss."   
  
For the first time in a week, Relena thought of Jean-Paul. On top of her, forcing his tongue into her mouth. She shuddered. If not for the warmth of Heero's hand, she would have been faint. "Why?" she asked. "You were there for it."  
  
Heero had no time to be surprised by this new information. The pianist struck the first notes and the dance began.   
  
****  
  
Hilde was aware of his presence beside her long before the general anesthesia wore off enough for her to open her eyes to see him. At the first flutter of her eyelashes, Duo was hovering over her, holding her pale hand in his.   
  
"Hilde-baby," he whispered. "Can you hear me?" She nodded, though the effort to do so was great. His smile was wide and reassuring. "Are you thirsty, babe?" When she nodded again, he reached for the little pitcher of water beside her bed.   
  
She swallowed a tiny amount from the cup he held to her lips. It wet her mouth enough to let her attempt talking. "Duo..." Her voice came out as little more than a whisper. "Thank you."  
  
He didn't have to ask what he was being thanked for; he knew what she meant. Duo lifted her hand to his lips. "I'm here as long as you need me."  
  
There were so many questions she wanted to ask him. "Duo...my ankle..."  
  
After a moment and a sip of the water for himself, he cleared his throat. "They were able to repair a lot of damage, babe." He squeezed her hand gently. "More than they expected. But...they won't know about dancing for sure until you start physical therapy."  
  
It was enough to placate her fears for the moment. The sliver of hope that she might dance again one day...she clung to it like a flotation device. "My mom?"  
  
"At work. You're still just stuck with me, babe." Duo winked.   
  
Hilde closed her eyes, utterly exhausted and still heavily under the influence of the medication. "I really...really love you," she whispered before she slipped back into the comfort of unconsciousness.   
  
Duo smoothed hair away from her forehead before pressing his lips to it. "You're the most important thing in the world to me, babe."   
  
****  
  
Heero let Relena into the apartment he shared with his father with more than a little apprehension. It was well after seven, rehearsals were running much later with the workshop looming in the near future; Ethan was sure to be passed out in his room by now. But to be on the safe side, Heero went inside first and scoped out the situation before he motioned for Relena to follow him.   
  
"Sorry," he apologized.   
  
Relena smiled. "It's all right. I still check in my closet for monsters every night. Well, okay, not *every* night, but..." She was cut off by Heero's lips on hers. When he broke the kiss a moment later, she kept her eyes closed. "A very effective way to keep me from babbling."  
  
He chuckled, a deep, throaty sound that brought about that strange warmth in the center of her body. "Are you hungry?" She nodded. "I'll order pizza before we start the project." He left her in the living room and moved towards the kitchen.   
  
Relena looked around at the spartan decor. The apartment was huge, but almost devoid of any personal touches, unlike her brother's home which was a showcase of his and Lucrezia's personalities and pasts. The only decorations, if you could even call them that, were a row of encyclopedias and the state of the art entertainment center. Relena couldn't locate a single picture of Heero at any point in his life anywhere.   
  
A hallway just to her left caught her eye. Figuring it led to Heero's bedroom, she moved towards it. She had her hand on the only doorknob in the hallway when she heard her boyfriend's voice. "Relena, do you want mushrooms...oh, hey!" Catching sight of her outside his father's room, Heero dropped the phone and ran for her. "You can't go in there!"  
  
Relena snatched her hand away from the doorknob. "I'm sorry..." She swallowed, playing off her embarrassment. "Is this where you keep the bodies of your other lab partners?"  
  
Heero took her hand. "It's just...that's my dad's room."  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry, Heero. I didn't realize."  
  
"It's okay," he assured her. "He's just, um, a market analyzer. He has to be up at three in the morning when the London stocks open up."   
  
Relena frowned. "You must not get to see much of him, then."   
  
"It's not a problem." Heero entwined his fingers with hers. "Trust me. Now, mushrooms or peppers?"  
  
After the pizza was ordered, they settled down to work. Forty minutes later, when the pizza arrived, they were no closer to a topic for the project than they were before. There was a loud knock on the door signaling the arrival of their dinner. Heero immediately tensed up. The knock was just loud enough to wake his father if he weren't completely drunk. To add to the problem, the delivery person began ringing the door chime.   
  
He jumped up and pulled his wallet out of his abandoned dance bag. As quickly as possible, he paid the delivery man and returned to the table with the pizza. His stomach dropped when he heard the door to his father's room open.   
  
"What the hell is all that racket?!"   
  
Relena shot a quick glance at Heero. Her boyfriend had frozen, pizza in hand. "Heero?" she asked. The wood floor vibrated; she was reminded of a Godzilla movie just before the monster appeared.   
  
Heero closed his eyes as Ethan rolled into the dining room, Prussian eyes ablaze, obviously at the homicidal threshold of his nightly binge. "Dad," he said quietly. "This is my girlfriend. Relena."   
  
She squirmed ever so slightly as Heero's father looked her up and down. She had to admit to giving the older man a look herself. Heero had never mentioned that his father was paraplegic.   
  
Or alcoholic. The smell of Scotch was overpowering.   
  
"Hi," she said softly. "It's a pleasure to meet..."  
  
"So, you're the slit who's managed to catch my little fag's eye," Ethan cut her off. He raised an eyebrow with drunken approval.  
  
Heero's hands balled into tight fists. His eyes opened. "Call me whatever you want, Dad. But keep your fucking mouth shut about Relena." His girlfriend blinked rapidly. But there was nothing he could to do reassure her while his father was still present.   
  
"Listen here, boy..."   
  
Relena looked down at her hands. "Heero, maybe I should..."  
  
"No!" He met her eyes, silently pleading with her not leave him alone. "I'll get rid of him."  
  
"You fucking little queer. You couldn't get rid of me if..." Ethan's taunt abruptly ended when Heero sent his fist flying into his father's face. The man slumped over in his chair, out cold.   
  
His arm shaking with effort, Heero glanced at his girlfriend. Her hands covered her mouth; her lovely eyes were wide. "I'm sorry," he said, wiping his forehead. "I'll understand if you're not here when I get back." Before she could say anything, he walked to his father and hauled him out of his chair. With the older man draped over his shoulder, Heero left the room.   
  
When he returned ten minutes later after dumping Ethan in a pile on his Scotch-soaked bed, she was still sitting at the table. He blinked, utterly surprised. "Relena, I said I'd understand if..."  
  
Relena stood up. "Do you think I'm going to abandon you just because you have to put up with...with that, Heero?" She shook her head. "It's not going to happen. I don't run that easily." There was a long pause. "How long has he been drinking?"  
  
"Since before my mother died," Heero replied.  
  
"How did she die?" Relena's question was quiet. Reverent.   
  
"She..." His throat closed up. "She killed herself."   
  
Relena's eyes misted over. "Oh, Heero..."   
  
Heero's chin dropped to his chest, the first tears he had shed since his mother's death springing upon him. "I'm so tired..." he began, his voice choked. "...of fighting him."   
  
She was at his side in a instant, wrapping her soft arms around him. Her lips touched his wet cheeks. "Shhh..." Her words, whispered in his ear, soothed him like nothing else. "It's all right, Heero. You don't have to fight when you're with me."   
  
He grasped her, folding her up in his arms and burying his face in her neck. He had already given up one fight, he realized. The fight to keep from loving her. There was nothing left to do but show her. His head lifted and he looked into her worried eyes. After an intense moment, he kissed her.   
  
It was different than their other kisses. Relena closed her eyes and relaxed her lips to his demanding tongue. He was kissing her like she was water in the desert. His last hope for survival. She moaned involuntarily when his hands slid from her back down over her bottom. The material of the flowered skirt she had changed into after rehearsal was thin. His fingers pressed into her flesh as he ravaged her mouth with his.   
  
"Heero," she broke off the kiss for air. "What..."  
  
"I'm sorry," he breathed against her throat before flicking out his tongue to taste her skin. "Should I stop?"  
  
Her head rolled back in pleasure; her senses clouded over. The feeling was like nothing she had ever experienced. It was so sudden, but so overwhelming. The absolute need to have him, to feel him, touch him, take him into her body... "No," she finally managed to gasp. "Don't stop...don't ever stop..."  
  
He picked her up like she weighed nothing and carried her down a second hallway to his bedroom. Setting her down on her feet, he quickly stripped her down to her modest pink panties and bra. Heero smiled appreciatively before removing his own clothes. Everything was going so fast...Relena hardly had time to keep up. There was too much excitement in the air. Too much desire. Need.   
  
Before things went any further, Heero retreated to fumble in his dresser drawer for something. Relena blushed when he pulled out the little square package, but she was more than grateful for his presence of mind. "Thank you," she said giving his shoulder a soft kiss.   
  
"I'll always take care of you," he replied with so much honesty. If she had any doubts about loving him before, they all disappeared in that moment. Relena grabbed him and pulled him down onto his bed. They landed, legs and arms tangled, laughing and kissing at the same time. As they kept kissing, the mood became drastically different. It wasn't too long until the rest of their clothes disappeared.   
  
After ensuring they were protected, Heero settled himself between her silky thighs. He looked down at the girl...the woman he was about to enter. She was watching him, no fear or hesitation in her eyes. Her fingers dug into his muscled shoulders, encouraging him. His breath caught in the back of his throat. She was the most beautiful thing in his life.   
  
"Relena, I..." Heero licked his lips. "I love you."   
  
There was little pain at his entry, something she could only attribute to twelve years of dancing lessons and, more than that, eight years of horseback riding. Her nails dug into his back. "Ohh..."   
  
Unaware, Heero continued until he was entirely buried within her warmth. His lips sought hers as he began to make love to her.   
  
Much later, after the intense pleasure they brought each other had faded, Relena curled her body around his. "By the way..." she murmured into his ear. "I love you, too."   
  
For the first time since he was six years old, Heero fell asleep with a smile on his face. It was still there three hours later when Relena reluctantly pulled herself out of his embrace. She dressed and scribbled a little love note, leaving it in a prime spot. After dropping a final kiss on his cheek, Relena gathered her things and slipped out of the apartment.   
  
She hailed a cab and rode the few blocks to home with a sappy smile of her own. Upon reaching her building, she gave the driver a very generous tip and climbed out. Martin held the door open for her. "Did you have a nice evening, Miss Relena?"  
  
"Martin..." Relena threw her arms around the kind man, squeezing him in a huge hug. "I've never had a nicer one in my whole life."   
  
So great was her euphoria as she let herself into the penthouse apartments, that she didn't even notice her mother sitting in the dark of the living room. Helen's eyes narrowed as she watched her only daughter skip towards her room. The grandfather clock struck midnight as the door to Relena's room shut.   
  
"Just where the hell have you been?" Helen wondered out loud, her voice low and deadly. "And who the hell have you been with?"  
  
****  
  
To Be Continued 


	12. Angel of the morning

Disclaimer: The characters belong to someone else, but I done thunk up this here plot.   
  
Author's Notes: Hi guys. No, I'm not dead. And I would never abandon a story in the middle of it, even if it takes years and years to finish. I've just been very, very, insanely busy lately. Thank you caring about this story enough to leave such sweet reviews, send me such nice emails and even IM me to say hi. I can't say when the story will be finished; sometimes it's out of the writer's control, especially when she's rushing to graduate in December. But it will be finished, that I promise you;) Thank you for hanging on; I hope you find it worthwhile.  
  
Dedication: To the ML girls. I've missed you.  
  
****  
  
To Dance Beneath the Diamond Sky  
by Kristen Elizabeth  
  
****  
  
There was a glow on Relena's face the next morning at breakfast, a sappy smile on her lips as she picked at her eggs benedict. At the head of the table, Millardo folded up his New York Times and picked up his coffee cup as he studied his little sister. He glanced at Lucrezia; his lover gave him a little wink.   
  
"Relena," he began. "I have to tell you. I am so proud of you."   
  
She glanced up, blinking. "Really?"  
  
"I've heard nothing but good things from Treize and Lu about your progression in the new role." Millardo took a long sip. "We threw a lot of responsibility on you and you've handled it wonderfully. I can't wait to see the dress rehearsal."   
  
"Only two more weeks," Lucrezia supplied.   
  
Relena swallowed a tiny bite of Canadian bacon. "Thank you, Millardo. For everything." The grandfather clock in the main parlor began to strike the seventh hour. "Oh! I'm going to be late!!" She shot out of her chair, linen napkin flying, and made a dash for her room.   
  
Millardo set his cup back down in its china saucer. "Tell me something, love. I've heard all about her technical merits from Treize, but how does she look dancing with the Yuy kid? I didn't even think about it when I cast her."  
  
"How do they look?" Lucrezia placed a delicate bite of melon in her mouth and chewed carefully as she came up with an answer that would not stir her fiancee's brotherly protection instincts. Still, she didn't want to lie. "They're gorgeous. They move together like they've been partners forever. He brings out the best in her. And she...she makes him a better person."   
  
"I would ask if I should be worried..." He frowned at his croissant. "But Relena is an adult."  
  
She placed a hand on his arm. "You're taking it very well, baby."  
  
"Besides." Millardo drained the last of his coffee and stood up. "Yuy is probably gay." He had dropped a kiss on the top of Lucrezia's head and was on his way out of the penthouse before she could think of a proper reply. For lack of anything else to do, Lucrezia shook her head and reached for his uneaten breakfast. She took a big bite of croissant just before his mother appeared in the dining room.   
  
"Helen," she mumbled around the flaky mouthful. "Good morning."  
  
Millardo's mother was wrapped up in flowered silk robe, her curler-ladden hair tied up in a chiffon scarf. Without make-up, her early morning face strongly resembled an angry rodent. The scowl that spread on her face didn't help. "Where is my daughter?"  
  
"Getting ready for school." Lucrezia swallowed. "The melon is especially good this morning, Helen."  
  
"Too much sugar." Helen gracefully dropped into the brocaded chair Millardo had vacated only moments earlier. "I should think you'd be especially aware of that, dear."  
  
"Oh really? Why is that?"  
  
Helen lifted a health-club sculpted shoulder. "I've just noticed a few extra pounds on you lately. We're going to have to get Vera Wang to let out your wedding dress if you're not careful."   
  
Lucrezia's eyes narrowed. "I really don't think you should worry about it, Mother Helen." Millardo's mother bristled at the hated title. "Vera and I have already discussed my dress at length when I found out..." She bit her tongue. "If you won't have some melon, will you try a croissant?"  
  
Just then, Relena reappeared in the kitchen. "Good morning, Mother." She gave Helen a tiny peck on her cheek.   
  
Helen caught her wrist before she could move away. "You got in awfully late last night, Relena."  
  
There was the slightest of catches in Relena's reply that anyone not looking to see a lie would never have noticed. "I'm sorry, Mother. My friend and I had to study late to finish the project on time."   
  
"What project is that?"  
  
"Biology class," Relena replied, smoothly.   
  
"I see." Helen drummed a manicured finger on the table-top. "I hope you're not letting all of this schoolwork interfere with your rehearsals."  
  
Relena managed to turn around before she rolled her eyes. "Of course not, Mother." She shot Lucrezia a 'help me' look.  
  
Lucrezia stood up. "Relena, you had better hurry if you want to make first period."   
  
"Yes, of course." Relena turned back around. "Bye. I'll see you at rehearsal, Lu. And Mom...I'll see you when I get home."   
  
Helen watched her son's fiancee walk Relena to the door. When both women were out of sight, she stood up and stalked over to the window. The city far below was just waking up, ready to start the new day. But her mind wasn't on beginnings. It was on endings.   
  
The end of whatever or whoever was distracting her daughter from the only thing that truly mattered in her life. Her dancing.  
  
****  
  
Heero wasn't in class when Relena arrived that morning. Instantly, her mood plummeted. She slid into her chair and set her bookbag onto Heero's seat, as if to give him a little chore to make up for his absence once he arrived. But by the time the bell rang, it still sat there.   
  
Relena moved through her morning with a mounting sense of fear. Something had happened to him. She concocted million different horrible scenarios in her mind through her classes. Eventually, they moved from muggings and murder to emotional withdrawal. What if he had thought about what they had done all night, as she had, but instead of reliving it and hoping for another chance to be that close, he had decided it had been a mistake and now, in the light of day, couldn't face her?   
  
She looked for him in the halls, behind every open locker door, in every corner, to no avail. By the time lunch period rolled around, Relena had already begun dreading rehearsal that afternoon. Heero might miss school, but he would never miss dance class. He was going to have to face her eventually.   
  
With her salad and pita bread, Relena settled down in the courtyard for a miserable, lonely lunch. She had just taken her first bite when felt someone behind her. Swallowing, she turned her head.  
  
"Hey." Heero hands were tucked into the pockets of his dark pants; his button down shirt was open at the throat, the uniform tie was unknotted and haphazardly hung around his neck.  
  
Relena was just about to snap at him, when she noticed his right cheek. It was swollen. "Heero! What happened to you?!"  
  
He reached up and gingerly touched his face. "He woke up before I did. Got me while I was asleep."  
  
"Oh god...Heero." Relena set her lunch aside and stood up. Her fingers brushed ever so slightly over his wound before she threw her arms around him. "I was worried about you."  
  
Heero returned the embrace, not caring that almost every eye in the courtyard was on them. "I'm all right. It's not too bad." He cleared his throat. "Relena...let's go somewhere we can talk."   
  
She let him lead her into an empty classroom. Once there, he hugged her again and inhaled the sweet scent of her hair. "You shouldn't have had to worry about me."  
  
"I couldn't help it." She drew back. "I thought you might regret..." Her voice dropped down a level. "Last night."  
  
"I don't." Heero pressed his lips against her forehead. A pause hung in the air.   
  
"But..." she prompted, a cold fist clutching her heart.   
  
He looked up at the ceiling. "I don't know. I haven't really had time to think much this morning."   
  
Relena bit her lip and touched his cheek again. "Did you put ice on it?" He nodded. "It shouldn't swell up anymore then. And even if it's not completely gone by performance day, make-up should easily cover it." Heero's eyes darted down to the floor. "What's wrong?"  
  
"I feel like I..." He stopped to collect his thoughts. "I feel like I took advantage of you last night." She opened her mouth to speak, but he went on. "I don't know what do about you, Relena, because you're not like anyone I've ever met. And I haven't ever felt about anyone...the way I feel about you. Maybe I did it all wrong last night. I should have waited...we should have gone slower...do you see what I..."  
  
Relena gave him a soft kiss. "You needed me last night. I needed you. I won't ever regret that." She swallowed. "But I would be lying to you and to myself if I said that was how I pictured my first time. I mean, the circumstances. The actual event..." A blush colored her cheeks. "That was just fine."  
  
"So...what are we saying here?" He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "Slow down?"  
  
"Only a little bit," she corrected him. "Is that what you were thinking?"  
  
Heero nodded. "I don't want you to think..." He started again. "I wouldn't ever use you, Relena. Or hurt you."   
  
"I know you wouldn't." The complete trust in her voice took away the throbbing pain in his cheek. She healed him without even knowing it. "Why don't you ask me on a date?"  
  
He smiled as much as he could. "Will you go out with me on Friday night, Relena?"   
  
"Well..." Relena played with his loose tie. "I'll have to check to make sure I'm free then..."  
  
"I'll call you tonight," Heero promised. He leaned in to kiss her, but before his lips could touch hers, the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch.   
  
Relena kissed his cheek with extra care. "I'll see you at rehearsal." Giving him a wink, she started out of the room, heading for her next class, all of her fears and doubts having dissolved.  
  
****  
  
As soon as his own school let out, Duo grabbed a cab and sped back to the hospital. The nurses in Hilde's wing knew him by sight; one of them chuckled as he ran down the squeaky-clean floor, skidding to a halt in front of her door.  
  
He knocked loudly and cracked the door open. "Are you decent, babe?"  
  
Hilde's voice called back through the thick wood. "Wait just a moment, Duo. I need to get my bra back on after my sponge bath."   
  
Duo threw the door open and all Hilde could do was laugh when his shoulders sagged in disappointment upon seeing her completely covered and dry. "You're a cruel woman," he told her.   
  
"Predictable," she laughed. "So predictable."  
  
"Damn, but you're gorgeous when you smile." After giving her a thorough kiss, he plopped down in a chair next to her bed. "What have you been up to all day?"  
  
"Homework," Hilde replied. "History is fun when you're on Demerol."   
  
"I bet it is." Duo reached for her textbook. "The Civil War and Reconstruction. Fun..."  
  
Her smile lost some of its momentum. "I need to do a lot of studying if I want to get into college. If it's not too late already, that is."   
  
He set the book aside. "Hilde...we don't know anything for sure yet. You could be gracing the stage of Lincoln Center for the thrill of thousands at this time next year."  
  
"You think so?"  
  
The hope that lit up her eyes was almost too much for him to bear. Choking on a sudden lump in his throat, all he could manage to say was, "Anything is possible."  
  
She lowered her chin to her chest. The less Duo said, the more he was trying to hide. Her fingers pulled at the hospital blanket that covered her uninjured leg. The other stuck out from the covers, still swaddled in bandaging. "Why do they paint these rooms beige?" she suddenly asked.   
  
Duo blinked and looked around at the walls. "Because if you got too comfortable, you might not want to leave when you're well?"  
  
"I think I'm going crazy in here, Duo," she continued a moment later.   
  
He reached out and took her hand. "What can I do?"  
  
Hilde looked him straight in the eye. "Bust me out for the afternoon."  
  
The corners of Duo's lips turned up. "You be Bonnie and I'll be Clyde?"  
  
"Something like that." She threaded her fingers through his. "Please, Duo? The nurses all think you're hot; they'll do anything you ask. I just want to get out for awhile to get some fresh air."  
  
"Fresh air? In New York?"  
  
Hilde tightened her grip on his hand. "Please?!"  
  
He sighed. "Like I could say no to you, babe." He brought her fingers up to his lips. "Where do you want to go?"  
  
Her reply was quick, concise and well thought-out. "Take me with you to rehearsal."  
  
****  
  
To Be Continued 


	13. Bad moon rising

Disclaimer: Just like the twelve disclaimers that have preceded this one.  
  
Author's Notes: The length of this chapter, hopefully, makes up for the shortness of the last. And the two month delay;)  
  
****  
  
To Dance Beneath the Diamond Sky  
by Kristen Elizabeth  
  
****  
  
"Babe..." Duo shook his head. "You're not serious."  
  
"Do I look like I'm joking?"   
  
"Babe..." he began again.  
  
Hilde pulled her hand away from him. "You won't do this one thing for me?"   
  
Duo frowned. "I just don't think it's going to make you feel any better to see..."  
  
She cut him off once more. "To see Relena dancing my part? No, it probably won't. But I think it's something I need to see. To move on or get over it...whatever." Hilde fixed her stare on him. "I can't do this without your help, Duo."  
  
He let out a long sigh and after a few extended moments of contemplation, he nodded. "All right. What's your plan, Bonnie?"  
  
"It's very simple, Clyde. And it relies a lot on you being so damn good-looking." She gave him a happy grin.  
  
Duo snorted. "Let's get on with it then. Rehearsal starts in an hour."   
  
****  
  
"Oh, Nurse Griffin!" Duo slid up to the nurse's station with the greatest finesse he could muster and fixed a smoldering violet look on his target. "Have I told you how stunning you look in peach?"  
  
The nurse glanced up from her charts, then looked at her uniform. "It's too bad you won't be hanging around next month. I look even more stunning in teal." She set one chart aside and reached for another. "Is there something Hilde needs?"  
  
"Yes." He reached over the counter for the woman's hand. "What we all need. Fresh air. A few moments of freedom. A cab ride across town..."  
  
"Oh, no, Mr. Maxwell." Nurse Griffin pulled her hand out of his range. "I'll give you extra Jello, but I'm not letting you take Hilde out of this hospital. She's barely been out of surgery for twenty-four hours!"  
  
"I know that. And so does she. But you know I'd never let anything happen to her." Duo let his lower lip protrude a bit. It was childish, but hopefully effective. "It's only for a few hours. What can happen in that amount of time?"  
  
"In New York City? With you?" The nurse grimaced. "The mind boggles..."  
  
Duo shook his head. "I'm disappointed, Nurse Griffin. I thought for sure you'd be the special kind of nurse who does what's best for her patients..."  
  
"You're not manipulating me; I don't care how cute you are, Mr. Maxwell."  
  
He dropped his jaw. "Nurse Griffin! I'm shocked!! I never, ever manipulate anyone!!" He paused. "But I would be a terrible cad if I didn't tell you that your eyes are the most amazing color of..."  
  
"All right!" She propped her hands up on her hips. "You've been here every day with her, every moment you possibly could. I can see that you'll take care of her. But I will have a list of instructions and you'll have to use a wheelchair, of course..."  
  
"Of course."  
  
Nurse Griffin chuckled, shaking her own head. "You're very lucky that you're so good looking, Mr. Maxwell."  
  
He winked and walked backwards towards Hilde's room, bowing as he went. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, dear, dear, dear, sweet nurse."  
  
Once he had disappeared into his girlfriend's room, the nurse let out a little sigh. "And I'm damn unlucky to be ten years too old for you."  
  
****  
  
Relena pushed a final pin into the thick knot of hair at the back of her head and gave her appearance a once-over in the locker room mirror. Standing up, she reached for the rehearsal tulle skirt the costume department had made up for her. Once she had pulled it on, she laughed. The stiff material stuck out around her waist a good two feet. At least Heero had danced with a partner wearing this sort of thing before. Now if she could only keep herself together enough to not let it get in the way...and trip her up.  
  
A few minutes later, she emerged onto the stage at Lincoln Center. Today was to be their first full run-through of the show. No stopping. No correcting.   
  
No mistakes.  
  
Heero was already onstage, warming up. The now-familiar sight pushed through her nervousness to bring a smile to her lips. He glanced in her direction upon hearing the slap of her shoes against the floor and gave her a warm look. "I like the tulle."  
  
"Yes." Relena fingered the stiff hem of her skirt. "It is kind of sexy, isn't it?"   
  
He lifted an eyebrow. "Better not let your brother catch you talking like that." With his free hand, he gestured out into the darkness of the house. "He'll be watching us today."  
  
Relena swallowed, her playfulness fading. "I wish you hadn't told me that."  
  
"You're going to be fine." Heero stood up, facing her. "You've been amazing in class. You..." He gently grasped her bare arms. "...are a wonderful dancer."  
  
Her eyes misted over. "You have no idea how much that means to me. Coming from you."  
  
Before Heero could give her the kiss they were both eager for, Treize appeared in the dimly lit front half of the house with a few other people, only one of whom Relena didn't recognize. "All right, ladies and gentlemen," he announced to the students milling about the stage. "Attention, please!" Once everyone was quiet, he continued. "We're running this straight through today, no stopping for anyone or any reason, understood? Only two things can stop rehearsal today. Injury and fire. That's it. Got it?" There was a chorus of nods. "I've invited a few people today to watch with me in the audience, including Chang Wufei, the theatre's technical director."  
  
A handsome, Asian man stepped forward from his place next to Sally Po. "I just have a few notes for you while you're on my stage. Resin your damn shoes, all of you! I don't want to be wiping up blood after you slide off the stage and into the pit. Also, don't step onto this stage unless you are wearing dance shoes. The company spent a million dollars last year re-doing these floors and if I see any scratches...." He left the threat open. "No food or drink onstage; you can eat backstage if you have to." Chang looked at Treize. "I think that's about it."  
  
Treize nodded. "Thank you. Now...places everyone. We're taking it from Act I in five minutes." There was a pause as Lucrezia whispered something into his ear. He squinted up at the stage after she was done. "Has anyone seen Mr. Maxwell backstage?"   
  
Relena glanced around. All she saw were shrugs and a few heads shaking. She looked back at Heero. "Where on earth could he..."  
  
"I'm here!!!" a faint, but unmistakable voice cried out from the back of the house. It took a minute before Duo materialized out of the shadows, running as fast as he could down the long, carpeted aisle, ballet shoes in hand. "Sorry I'm late!"   
  
Treize sighed. "Just get warmed up as fast as you can, Mr. Maxwell, and we'll overlook it." Duo grinned at him and headed for the side doors that led backstage. Treize clapped his hands. "Why aren't we in places?"  
  
****  
  
The first time Hilde had ever been inside Lincoln Center was on her tenth birthday. After weeks of pleading, good behavior and endless chores, her mother had produced two tickets for a production of *Coppelia*, the cheapest seats possible, but seats nonetheless. When Hilde had entered the plush world of the Center's main stage, she made a promise to herself. One day, she wouldn't be a poor girl watching from the back. She would be what everyone else was watching. The ballerina. The star.   
  
Her hands gripped the leather arm rests of her wheelchair. Under all the bandages, her knee throbbed, but she ignored it with the lingering help of the hospital's best drugs. If she could have found any humor in the situation, she would have laughed at herself, clad in blue cotton pajamas and a pink flannel bathrobe in the middle of Lincoln Center.   
  
But the last thing on earth she felt like doing was laughing.   
  
The first act hadn't been too bad. In fact, she had rather enjoyed watching how her classmates had come together, perfected their craft...without her. She took particular pleasure in watching the small bit of dancing Sally Po performed as the Queen. And Heero was at the top of his form during the Prince's first solo piece.   
  
But after a small break, when the corps fluttered in, with Relena at center stage, Hilde was hit with a wave of anguish like none she had ever experienced. Unconsciously, she watched the other girl's movements, searching for flaws. She found nothing. Somehow, Relena had transformed herself into a prima ballerina. She had taken Hilde's role and integrated it into her already glittering life.  
  
And as for herself....she was still the poor girl watching from the back. It was all she would ever be now.   
  
She only stayed long enough for Heero's second entrance and a few moments of his pas de deux with Relena. The steps were in Hilde's mind as she turned her wheelchair around and rolled out of the theatre.   
  
****  
  
"Princess!!" Relena turned around just in time to see Duo barreling for her and before she was quite prepared, he had lifted her into the air. "Princess...fucking amazing, you were."  
  
She laughed as he put her down. "Thank you, Yoda."  
  
Duo gave her a wide smile. "Seriously though. You and Yuy...it was incredible to watch you today." He stopped suddenly. "You slept with him!!"  
  
Relena's face lost all color. Her hand came up to slap his arm. "Duo!! Oh my god! I can't believe you would..."  
  
"I call 'em like I see 'em, princess." He leaned in towards her with a wink. "I'm going to find out eventually, you know."   
  
She looked down at her toe shoes, fighting back embarrassment. "How do you always get your way?"   
  
"I don't play fair."  
  
Relena gave him her best scowl. The color in her cheeks was rapidly returning. "All I have to say is that Heero and I..."  
  
"Duo...are you bothering our star?" Heero approached them from the stage and put his arm around Relena's shoulders.   
  
The other boy blinked rapidly. "Excuse me. I don't mean to stare, but you look a lot like this guy I used to know. His name was Heero Yuy. Had a stick up ass about the size of a..." Heero cut him off with a deadly glare. "Oh! So, it is you, Yuy."  
  
Relena shook her head, smiling. "I'm going to take all of this to mean that I didn't look too silly up there in this thing?" She gestured to her tulle skirt.  
  
"You looked....like a ballerina." When Heero's glare grew harder, Duo amended his comment. "A prima ballerina." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he slapped his forehead. "Damn! I have to get Hilde back!!" Without another word, he ran off.  
  
"He's a little bit odd." Relena looked up at Heero. "But one of the good guys."  
  
"He's also right," Heero continued. "You were amazing today."   
  
Relena smiled. "Well, I have this terrific partner..."  
  
A moment later, just as Relena was relaxing into Heero's kiss, Duo rejoined them. "Hey...lovebirds." They pulled apart; this time, the look on Heero's face was murderous. Duo ignored it. "You didn't happen to see Hilde in the audience, did you?"  
  
The couple exchanged a look. "Duo," Relena began with exaggerated patience. "Hilde's at the hospital."  
  
He groaned. "It must have been more than she could take! I knew it was a bad idea; I never should have agreed to help!!" He ran his hands through his bangs, still sweaty from rehearsal. "I have to find her!!" Once more, he ran off without any goodbyes.   
  
Heero shook his head. "A little odd, nothing. He's completely spastic."  
  
****  
  
Duo found Hilde in the last place he thought to look for her. Back in her hospital room. Nurse Griffin let him in with a very disapproving look. Completely sheepish, Duo approached Hilde's bed.   
  
She was curled up as much as she could, with her head facing away from him. But he didn't need to see her cheeks to know they were tear-stained.   
  
"Hilde," he whispered. "Babe, I'm so sorry that..."  
  
"Duo." Her voice was dull, yet cut him worse than any knife could. "Go away."  
  
His eyes closed briefly. "Babe...please don't shut me out of..."  
  
"Go away!!" she screamed. Her head whipped around. Duo almost stepped back, there was so much anger and twisted pain on the face he loved. "Get out of here!!"   
  
He ran a hand down his face, mostly to brush away sudden tears. "All right." He swallowed thickly. "I'll go." Duo reached the door before he turned around. She was in her original position again, her slender back facing him. "But I *will* be back." He opened the door with far more force than necessary; it bounced off the wall with a tremendous smack as he stormed down the hall. "I don't give a shit what you say you want. You're not fucking going through this alone."  
  
****  
  
"Hi! I'm home!" Relena sailed into the apartment on the euphoric high of her last kiss with Heero...and his promise of a long phone conversation that night. She dropped her school and dance bags in the main hallway and did a twirl into the parlor.   
  
Helen looked up from the previous week's society pages as her daughter danced into the room. "You're in a good mood."  
  
Relena nodded dreamily. "I had a really great day."   
  
"Rehearsal went well, I take it?"  
  
She shrugged. "I guess."  
  
Helen closed up her paper with a loud rustling. "You guess?"  
  
"Well, I mean it was only rehearsal, Mother." Relena did another little twirl. "There are other things."  
  
"Oh." If Relena hadn't been so wrapped up in her thoughts, she would have noticed the ice in her mother's words. "Really?"  
  
Relena suddenly glanced down at her body. Sweat had dried on her skin, but her leotard and hair were still damp with it. "I think I'm going to go take a quick shower before dinner."  
  
"Dinner will be late." Helen dug her nails into her palms. "Your brother and his fiancee had a late doctors appointment."  
  
"That's why they left after the second act..." Relena smiled. "I'll get a longer shower then." Before she left the room, she thought of something. "Mom, if anyone calls, can you tell them to call back?"  
  
"You're expecting a call?"  
  
Her daughter grinned. "A very important one. And I'm not sure exactly when he'll be calling."  
  
Helen's return smile was tight and forced. "I'll relay the message, dear." Relena flashed another grin before twirling off for her room. "You can be sure of it."   
  
****  
  
"Duo..." Sara Maxwell gave her son a worried glance. "Is there something wrong with my enchiladas?"  
  
"No, it's real good, Mom." Duo forked a bite into his mouth. On any other night, his mouth would have been burning with his mother's special blend of spices in his favorite dish, but that night, it tasted no better than wet cardboard.   
  
Robert took a long sip of tea. "Something wrong, son? You've been abnormally quiet. It's scaring to scare your mother."  
  
"Oh, it is not." Sara winked at her husband. "It's just....strange. Not eating *and* not talking. My Mom-radar is going off the scale."   
  
Duo set down his fork. "Look, I'd really rather not talk about it, okay?"   
  
"Duo." Robert cocked an eyebrow at him. "Your mother is just trying to help."  
  
"I know. Sorry." He suddenly pushed his chair back and stood up. "I'm gonna get a head start on my homework."  
  
Sara swallowed. "Okay, now I'm scared."  
  
Duo shook his head and gave her a peck on the cheek. "I'm fine, Mom. Thanks for dinner." He nodded at his dad before leaving the dining room.   
  
Robert forked up a bite of enchiladas. "Fight with Hilde."  
  
"You think?" Sara replied, wringing her hands.   
  
"He'll find a way to work it out." Robert wiped his mouth on a linen napkin. "He loves that girl almost as much as he loves us, Sara."  
  
"I know." His wife sighed. "I'm just not sure she feels the same way about him. Especially now that she...." Sara pushed her plate away. "I couldn't bear him getting hurt. He puts that huge heart of his out there for everyone he cares about and I..." She stopped when she caught Robert's sympathetic look. "I know. He can handle himself. He's almost grown up, after all."   
  
"Almost." Robert gave her a wink of his own. "Not quite. We'll give him a few days. And then...it's parental guidance time."  
  
Back in his room, Duo flopped down onto his bed, ignoring his piles of homework. He blinked, staring at the picture of him and Hilde at his junior prom that held a prime spot on his nightstand, and fell asleep still staring at it.  
  
****  
  
The phone in Millardo's Park Avenue apartment rang ten minutes after Helen heard the shower in Relena's room turn on. Helen let it ring three times before she set down her double-gin cocktail and picked the receiver in the parlor.   
  
"Hello?"  
  
A young man's voice replied, "Relena?"  
  
"No." Helen's jaw grew tight. "This is her mother."  
  
"I'm sorry. You sounded just like..." The boy cleared his throat. "I'm calling to speak to Relena, please. My name is..."  
  
Helen's eyes darted from side to side, planning her next move. All she could see was Relena, dancing on stage for thousands of people. With nothing standing in her way. "Mark, right? Relena's told me so much about you."  
  
"No." There was a pause. "My name isn't Mark."  
  
"Oh, forgive me, dear." Helen relaxed into a smile, no longer thinking. "Relena gets so many boys calling her, I never know who is who."  
  
After another pause, the young man spoke again. "Is Relena there?"  
  
"No, dear, I'm sorry. She stepped out for the night with Jeffrey, I think his name was." Helen laughed. "You know, Relena. She loves to have a good time." There was no reply. "Although, I haven't seen her this serious about anyone since Jean-Paul back in Paris."  
  
"Jean-Paul?" the caller repeated.   
  
Helen nodded, as though the person on the other end could see her. "Oh, yes. She loved him very much. Nearly broke her heart to leave him. I know you men don't always feel the same, but a girl's first lover will always be special to her." Another long pause followed her words. "Are you still there, dear?"  
  
"I'm here."  
  
"Can I take a message for Relena and have her call you back?"   
  
"No. Thank you." There was a click before the other end went dead.   
  
She had just resettled the receiver into its cradle when Relena ran in, wrapped in her bathrobe with a towel around her wet hair. "Was that for me?!" she asked her mother.  
  
Helen paused for a second before she picked up her drink. Turning around, she gave her daughter a smile. "Just a wrong number. Dear."  
  
****  
  
Only a few blocks away, with the light of a weak moon shining on him through the open window, Heero threw his phone across the room. It shattered against the brick wall.   
  
****  
  
To Be Continued 


	14. Why you want to break my heart

Disclaimer: Nothing here is mine but the storyline. Hey, that rhymed.  
  
Author's Notes: Sorry for the immense delay. But to be entirely fair, the site was down for a good portion of it;) Thanks for all the sweet reviews; it makes me very happy that yall are into the story.  
  
****  
  
To Dance Beneath the Diamond Sky  
by Kristen Elizabeth  
  
****  
  
"When I dance, I cannot judge. I cannot hate. I cannot separate myself from life." -Hans Bos  
  
"Movement never lies. It is a barometer, telling the state of the soul's weather." -Martha Graham  
  
****  
  
For the second morning in a row, Heero was a no-show in biology class. To add to Relena's worry over the situation, she was called to Mr. Berardis' desk on her way out at the end of the period. She clutched her book bag's leather strap as she walked back to him.   
  
"You wanted to see me, sir?"  
  
"Yes, Relena." The teacher gave her a long look. "Your partner's been absent for two days now."   
  
She glanced down at the floor. "He's been having some...trouble at home."  
  
"And I'm sympathetic to that. As I have been about the deadline for your project." He stood up and put his hands in his pockets. "But I'm afraid I can't extend it any longer. You and Heero must do your project a week from today...or else you both fail."  
  
Relena took a breath. "I understand, sir." An awkward moment passed. "We'll get it done, I promise."  
  
Mr. Berardis nodded. "I'm looking forward to it."  
  
As she walked out of the classroom, Relena chewed on her lower lip. "Please be okay, Heero. If that bastard's hurt you again...I'll kill him."  
  
Throughout the rest of the day, Relena expected Heero to show up around ever corner she rounded. But when the final bell of the day rang and it was time for her to head to the theatre, he still hadn't appeared. At least, she figured, there was dance class. It took a lot of willpower for her to keep from jumping into a cab and speeding to his apartment building. Something was wrong with Heero. She could just feel it.  
  
****  
  
For the first time since Hilde's injury, Duo did not head to the hospital after his classes let out. He hailed a taxi, fighting the urge to instruct the driver towards St. Luke's. Between clenched teeth, he muttered, "Lincoln Center," and closed the door behind him.   
  
They were halfway uptown when Duo suddenly changed his mind. "Wait...St. Luke's, please."  
  
Ten minutes later, the cab stopped in front of the massive, west-side hospital. Duo rolled down his window to look up at the tenth floor. After a long moment of contemplation, he rolled the window back down. "Okay. Lincoln Center."  
  
"You okay?" the cabbie asked, indifferently.   
  
Duo lifted his shoulder as he stared at the buildings and people they passed. "My ballerina girlfriend got injured and is lashing out at me because she thinks her whole life is ruined."   
  
The cabbie blinked. "That's women, kid. If it's not one thing, it's another."   
  
He sighed. At least the cabbies of New York City were on his side.  
  
They arrived at the stage door entrance a few minutes; a black limousine pulled in right behind them. As Duo climbed out and paid the driver, he caught a glimpse of blond hair and plaid school uniform emerging from the limo.   
  
"Princess," he called out as he dug a few dollars out of his jeans. "Thanks, man." After the driver sped off, Duo ran over to Relena. "You're here early."  
  
"I always get here early," she replied. "You're just never on time to see it."   
  
Duo frowned at her distant, quiet voice. "What's wrong, princess?"  
  
Relena played with the leather strap of her book bag. "Heero wasn't at school today. I'm worried about him."  
  
"Maybe he just woke up feeling bad and decided to take the day off so he'd be okay at rehearsal." Duo held the double doors open for her as they entered the backstage area.   
  
"Yeah. You know, you're probably right." Relena shook her head at her own paranoia. "That does sound like Heero. School is way down on his priority list after ballet."   
  
"And ballet is starting to creep down the list thanks to you." Duo winked. "So...was I right about that whole sleeping together thing?"  
  
Relena gave him a mock look of exasperation. "Nosy," she accused him. "Do you see me asking how far you and Hilde have gotten?"  
  
Her friend's face immediately fell. "No. I'm sorry, princess."  
  
"Hey, Duo!" She ran down the corridor to catch up with him. "Did I say something wrong? I was teasing you, I swear."  
  
He slapped a smile back on, determined not to weigh anyone down with his own problems. "Nah, it's fine. I was being nosy."  
  
Relena smiled. "I just don't think you have to ask. Isn't it obvious?"  
  
Just then, they both found themselves jumping to one side as someone came barreling down the hallway behind them. Relena recognized his presence before she even got a glimpse of his face. Heero roughly brushed past them without a single word. The heavy steps of his shoes were the only sounds in the hallway for a long time; they faded as Heero put more distance between himself and them. Finally, they stopped.   
  
Duo looked at Relena. She was standing very still, not blinking. "Princess..."   
  
Ignoring him, she dropped her bags and started after Heero. He reached for her arm to hold her back, but she evaded his grip by a mile. "Princess!" Duo shouted again. She was already far gone.  
  
****  
  
"Hilde Schbeiker?"  
  
"What do you want?"  
  
An older woman in starched white pants and a smock entered the room, pushing a wheelchair with her. "I'm Dr. Parks. I'm going to be your primary physical therapist. It's nice to meet you, too."  
  
For this, Hilde turned her head. "I just had surgery. I'm not ready for physical therapy."  
  
"No one's ever ready for physical therapy, sugar. But we're starting you off small, just so you don't lose any muscle tone in the time it takes for you to heal. Now..." Dr. Parks reached for her hand. "Let's get going."  
  
Hilde folded her arms over her hospital gown and closed her eyes. "I'm not going. What's the point?"  
  
The therapist sighed. "Look, I'm going to be frank with you, Hilde, because you're old enough and it's been a long day. There are a lot of people I help who will never be able to walk again, but keep trying every damn day of their lives. Now, you're healthy, you're young and you're able to make a full recovery. So get in the wheelchair and quit feeling sorry for yourself."  
  
Hot tears flooded Hilde's eyes. "You have no idea what you're talking about. You don't know anything about me or my situation!"  
  
"I know enough." Dr. Parks leaned on the metal railing of the bed. "I heard you're a dancer."  
  
"Was." Moisture tricked down the edge of her nose. "I was a dancer."  
  
Dr. Parks nodded sympathetically. "I can see you've pretty much resigned yourself to the facts, then."  
  
Hilde sniffed. "The facts?"  
  
"Well, I mean...a severe injury such as yours..." The doctor indicated her ankle. "Certainly there's nothing you can do for yourself, right? Might as well give up. And hey...it'll certainly free up some of my time."  
  
"You know, you have the worst bedside manner I've ever seen!" Hilde pushed herself up in bed, her tears angry now, rather than pitiful. "You can't just tell me to give up! Isn't that against your Hippocratic oath or something?"  
  
The older woman smiled. "You're right. I can't tell you to give up. It's your choice."  
  
"And I'm not going to be tricked into making that choice." Hilde lifted her chin. "When I'm ready for physical therapy, I'll tell you."  
  
Dr. Parks nodded again. "All righty then. When you're ready, I'll be down the hall helping a girl who lost her right arm below the elbow in a car accident a few months ago." She pushed the wheelchair back to the door. "Twenty years old. She was a first chair violinist at Julliard. Life's a bitch, isn't it?"  
  
It took a long time after the doctor had left for Hilde to realize her tears no longer had anything to do with her own misfortune.   
  
"Duo," she whispered to the empty room. "I'm sorry..."  
  
****  
  
Relena caught up with him inside the men's locker room. Not caring if they were alone, she barged in after him. Fortunately, it was deserted. "Heero! Heero, are you all right?"   
  
He stopped in front of a locker and twisted the combination. After opening the door, he reached inside for his workout clothes.   
  
"Heero, you weren't in school. Are you feeling all right?" Relena stepped closer to him. "Did your father..."  
  
"Are you planning to stay while I change?" Heero cut her off.   
  
She blinked once, then twice. "Um...I don't know." A blush painted her cheeks. "It's not like we haven't seen each other without...you know...our clothes on."  
  
He snorted softly. "I'm sure you're very used to seeing naked men, but I'd really prefer it if you would just leave me alone."  
  
"What does that mean? Heero?" Relena could hear her heart beating in her ears. Something *was* wrong with him. And it seemed to be her. "Are you mad at me?"  
  
Shaking his head, Heero slammed the locker door shut. "It's really irrelevant at this point."  
  
"You didn't call me last night. You weren't in school today. And now you're treating me like I have the plague." Relena reached for his hand. "Heero, if I've upset you somehow, the least you can do is tell me, so I can..."  
  
He pulled his hand away from her. "Don't touch me."  
  
Relena's entire body was suddenly very cold. "You're really scaring me, Heero." There was a long pause. "Look, I don't know what's wrong, but I'm sure that whatever it is, we can work through it."  
  
"Work through it?" Heero repeated, slapping his ballet shoes against the bench. He turned on her. "You've lied to me since we met, betrayed me...and you think if you bat your eyelashes, it'll all be okay? Well, it doesn't work that way, Relena. We don't work through this."  
  
"What is it?!" she cried, desperately fighting back impending tears. "Lied to you? I've never lied to you, Heero! And I've certainly never betrayed you! I don't understand what you're talking about!"  
  
He stripped off his hooded sweatshirt and tossed it down the bench. "There you go. Keep right on lying, Relena. You probably don't even know when you're doing it anymore."  
  
Relena found her own head shaking back and forth; her hair swung from side to side. She stared at nothing in particular; the hateful expression on his face matched his words, making her unable to look at him. "Heero...why are you...? What happened since yesterday...to make you think I'm this horrible person who lies to you?"  
  
"Why don't you start telling the truth, Relena" His words were precise, spoken in a tone so low, she had to strain to hear them at all. "Tell me about the other guys."  
  
"What other guys?" She stamped her foot. "Heero, you're not making any sense! You are the only guy! Just you; no one else!"  
  
He stood up in just his jeans and reached for her chin. "Are you lying now?"  
  
Relena's tears flowed over his hand. "Why are you doing this, Heero? I'm not lying to you. I've never lied to you!"  
  
"I was your first?" he asked, flatly.  
  
She flinched. "You were the first."  
  
Heero's fingers dug into her skin. "The first to touch you? Kiss you? Fuck you?"  
  
His ugly words were too much to bear. "You're hurting me." Relena jerked her chin out of his grasp. "What do you want me to tell you, Heero?"  
  
"For starters...tell me about Jean-Paul."  
  
Relena could actually feel all the blood draining from her face. Completely dry, her throat stuck as she tried to swallow. "How do you know...about him?"   
  
Heero took a step back, looking at her as though she had stabbed him in the heart with a butcher knife. His anger melted for a minute and was replaced by pure pain. Her words seemed to have ripped him open and now he lay completely exposed. "So," he whispered. "It's true."  
  
"Heero?"   
  
He held up his hands. "Just...stay away from me, Relena."   
  
"What?!" She pushed tears off her cheeks. "Heero, Jean-Paul...he was...I mean, it wasn't anything..."  
  
"I don't want to hear it."   
  
"You don't understand..."  
  
Heero turned on her, his Prussian blue eyes threatening to spill forth their own tears. "I don't want to understand!" he hissed. "I don't need to understand why you lied to me. It's enough to know that you've laid down for every available guy between here and Paris. Has Duo had a ride, too? Maybe the rumor was true and you did fuck Treize to get the role of..."  
  
The locker room resounded with the sharp crack of Relena's palm against the side of his face. A long moment passed as Heero's cheek began to turn pink. He slowly turned his head back around straight to look at her. Relena's eyes were windows into a raging blue storm.   
  
"If I told you the truth right now," she finally began in an amazingly collected tone. "You would feel like the scum that you've just proved you are."   
  
"You're assuming I'd believe anything you say anymore." He touched his numb cheek.   
  
Relena backed up towards the locker room doors. "Is this the real Heero Yuy? Was the guy I fell in love with just an illusion?"  
  
He turned his head away and reached for the zipper of his jeans. She was being dismissed. No longer even a blip on his radar screen. But Relena wasn't about to take it lying down...like he, for some unfathomable reason, seemed to think she was good at doing. "You don't get the luxury of cutting me out of your life, Heero. You do realize that, don't you?"   
  
Heero pushed his jeans down his legs and kicked them off, leaving him in only his boxer briefs.   
  
Relena's trembling fingers found the metal bar to push open the double doors. "You're still my lab partner in class. And you still have to dance with me in front of three thousand people in two weeks. Unless you want to fail at either or both of those things, you're going to have to suck it up and deal with me." She pushed the door open. "I don't know where you get your information, but check your source. Someday, you're going to understand just what kind of mistake you made here today."  
  
He merely reached for his dark dance tights. With his back turned to her, he could let his feelings flow, but they were tears Relena never saw.   
  
Before she left, she allowed herself one final comment. "I really did love you. I wonder if you can say the same."  
  
"I can," he said out loud a long time after she left. Her words still haunted him, but every time he started to really think about them, he could only remember her mother's words over the phone. What possible motivation would a teenager's mother have to fabricate lies about her daughter's sex life? It didn't make any sense, he told himself. Relena was the only one with any cause to lie.   
  
*Still,* a little voice in the back of his head reminded him as he pulled a black tank top over his head, *You could have handled it better, couldn't you have?* Heero's hands balled up into fists. He hadn't been able to keep his mouth shut once she had managed to pry it open. It was just that the slightest mental image of her with another man drove him crazy. Didn't she know that there had never been anyone but her in his life? Didn't she understand how much it had taken him to let her be the first?  
  
*You called her a slut. You accused her of using sex to get Hilde's part, therefore accusing her of not being good enough to get it on her own. You treated her like garbage.*   
  
Heero slammed his fists into the lockers. She had told him he would have regrets. He already did.   
  
****  
  
Duo found her curled up underneath the staircase that ran between the dressing rooms and the stage floor. It was fifteen minutes before rehearsal was set to begin and she was still in her school uniform. Her smooth cheeks were stained with a thousand tears; her hair was rumpled as though she had been pulling at it.   
  
She couldn't speak when he gently called her name. It took another five minutes and a lot of clever persuasion to get her to crawl out from under the stairs. Ignoring the curious stares from the rest of the cast, Duo led her to quiet corner of the green room.   
  
When the stage manager came looking for them, Duo had let her curl back up into a ball on the soft couch and was trying to get her to drink some water. He kindly informed the stressed woman that Relena's understudy might have a chance to practice that day.   
  
Relena listened to everything without actually hearing any of it. Ten minutes later, she looked straight into Duo's eyes as he continued trying to get her to talk.   
  
"Princess?" What he had been saying was instantly forgotten. "Princess, what happened?"  
  
She reached for the cup of water and took a long sip. "Heero and I broke up," was all she would say.  
  
Forty minutes later, Relena was dressed, warmed up, and running towards Heero's outstretched arms. When he lifted her into the air, he might as well have been mechanical crane for all the emotion he put into it. And for Relena, he was nothing more that something solid between her and the floor. The magic was gone and dancing had never been more of a chore.  
  
****  
  
To Be Continued 


	15. Raindrops keep falling on my head

Disclaimer: Standard, you know it by heart.   
  
Author's Notes: Writers are funny creatues. We crave feedback, that's for sure. If we didn't, we wouldn't ever show anyone our stuff. And we can always use advice, when we ask for it, that is. After all, we're all learning from each other. But the one thing that drives us crazy (or maybe I should start speaking for myself at this point) is having someone try to write our stories for us. I've gotten a couple of very long reviews on this story in which a probably well-intentioned person has been trying to write my story, dialogue and all. I appreciate the thought behind it and I'm very glad that person is intersted in my story, but this *is* my story. I sometimes ask my beta-reader or close friends for advice, but other than that, I write the story. And it's kind of frustrating when people, instead of reviewing, try to do it for me. So, thank you to that person, but in the future, I'd rather hear what you think about the story the way I'm writing it, instead of you trying to write it yourself. I'm sorry if that makes me sound like a bitch, but this is my biggest pet peeve and I had to say it.  
  
I hope you all continue to enjoy.  
  
****  
  
To Dance Beneath the Diamond Sky  
by Kristen Elizabeth  
  
****  
  
"Miss Dorlian! Mr. Yuy!" Treize's voice cut through the piano music, bringing the two dancers on stage to a startled halt. At seven days exactly until the curtain rose, the ballet master wouldn't stop rehearsal unless it were a matter of life and death.   
  
Relena ran a hand down her sweaty throat. Her heart pounded under her fingers with the pressure of the performance. She could feel Heero next to her, hear his heavy breathing, smell the clean scent of his own sweat as Treize approached the lip of the stage.  
  
He looked up at them with murder in his expression. "Do you two want to explain just what the hell you're doing?"   
  
"It's usually called dancing," Heero muttered. Relena winced, fervently hoping Treize hadn't heard.  
  
But he had. His eyes narrowed. "Funny. Because I was going to call it what it looks like. Shit." Treize's glared alternated between his two principal dancers. "You two have been on a downward spiral into a huge pile of it the last few days, and I'm sick of it. In one week, you'll be on this stage in front of a paying crowd of New York's most elite citizens. Both of your careers hinge on how well you perform. It's no skin off my ass if you keep on the way you are right now." He pointed at them. "But, if you want to have a career at all next year, you'll put those pretty heads of yours together and figure out a way to look like you're having some semblance of a good time up here. 'Cause right now, you're going through the motions. And I don't have time for it."   
  
Treize turned around for a moment to collect his thoughts. Relena snuck a quick glance at Heero. His face was molded into a mask of boredom and indifference. She rolled her eyes skyward. He was such a bastard.   
  
Finally, Treize turned around. "Get off my stage. Both of you. Don't come back until you're ready to be Siegfried and Odette again."   
  
Heero cursed, in a lower tone this time. Relena bit her lip, the bright red flush of embarrassment coloring her cheeks. She could actually feel the accusing stares of the other class members boring into her. Treize clapped his hands. "See you all tomorrow. If Miss Dorlian and Mr. Yuy are ready to work by then."  
  
"Way to go, Relena." The smooth voice of Dorothy Catalonia made her wince. A moment later, the repulsive girl was at her side, all too eager to rejoice in Relena's chastisement. "I guess it just goes to show that sleeping your way to the top isn't always a good idea."  
  
"Learned that the hard way, did you?" she managed to throw back.  
  
Dorothy grabbed her arm, digging her nails into Relena's flesh. "Listen, bitch. Go ahead and dance as badly as you can....and we all know that's pretty damn bad. Because the worse you dance, the better it makes me..."  
  
"Leave her alone." Heero turned his cold stare onto Dorothy. When he was sure he had shut the girl up for good, he started off towards the wings. Relena blinked, unsure if what had just happened had really happened.   
  
"Ugh." Dorothy made a face. "You two make me so sick."   
  
"And amazingly, it's a better look for you, Cata-lonely-a." Relena relaxed at the comforting sound of Duo's voice. As he came up behind them, Duo draped an arm over her slender shoulders. "Run along, Dorothy, before I get the urge to drop a house on you."   
  
After letting out a particularly foul string of curses, Dorothy stomped off, her wooden shoes clomping across the stage. Relena let out a slow breath. "Thanks, Duo."  
  
He flicked a mock salute. "No need to tip, princess. I get my kicks out of knocking that girl on her padded ass." Duo glanced at the wings where Heero was sipping a bottle of water. "How are you doing?"  
  
"You saw us dancing." Relena started walking the opposite direction from the one Heero had taken to the other side of the stage. "You tell me."   
  
Duo jogged after her, his braid flying. "He's a dick, Relena. We established that, right?" She didn't say anything as she headed towards the girls locker rooms. "Remember? A dick, Heero is."   
  
Relena stopped and looked down at her pink satin shoes. "He stood up for me against Dorothy." She brushed away impending tears. "Why did he do that? Why does everything he toss my way have to be confusing?!"   
  
"I don't think Heero knows how to speak in anything but 'confusing', princess." Duo gently turned her around to face him. "I know you can't exactly avoid him, but you can't let him drag down your dream either."  
  
"Are you suggesting I talk to him after the way he treated me?"  
  
Duo lifted his shoulders. "Do you have a choice?"  
  
Relena sighed. "I guess you're right. I can't fail Biology. And I don't really want to make an idiot of myself in front of a couple thousand people."  
  
"So, you're going to..."  
  
"Try to talk to Heero in school on Monday." Relena titled her head to the side after a moment to study her friend. "Duo, how's Hilde? I wanted to go see her the other day, but the nurse I talked to on the phone said she was asleep."  
  
Duo snorted softly. "She's been asleep every time I've tried to call, too." His gaze darted up to the ceiling. "She's completely cut me out, princess. I don't know...I guess I underestimated the power of all of this to change her."   
  
"I'm so sorry," Relena whispered. She sniffed suddenly. "This was supposed to be our time, you know? Hilde was supposed to be shining, I was supposed to blending, you were supposed to be happy, Heero was supposed to be...um...I don't know, but you get my drift, right? This doesn't feel like where we're supposed to be. And I don't know where it all went wrong."   
  
"Me neither." Duo made a move to stick his hands in his pockets, realizing too late that he was only wearing tights. "It's all a big fucking mess that I can't figure out how to talk my way out of. For the first time in my life."   
  
Relena wrapped her arms around his torso, squeezing with all her might. "It's going to be okay, Duo. I have to believe that. Or else I'd have to just give up."   
  
"All right, princess. If you believe, I can believe."   
  
When Heero stepped around the corner of the hallway and stumbled upon the sight of their mutual embrace, he watched for only a brief moment before he had to turn around. The urge to punch out Duo was too overwhelming. But it wasn't as strong as his desire to hit himself.   
  
****  
  
"I'm home."  
  
Relena reached for the pile of mail on the hallway table and began to sift through it as she started for the kitchen. "Hello?" she called out again. "Mother? Millardo?" She found a letter with her name on it, but looked up from it before reading who it was from when she felt her brother's fiancee sweep into the hall.  
  
"I'm so glad you're home, Relena."   
  
"Lu...is everything okay?" She lowered the hand holding her mail. "Wait. You're sort of....glowing."  
  
Lucrezia nodded. "They say that happens to pregnant women."   
  
Relena's jaw dropped along with the letters. "Oh my god...you're...oh my god!!"   
  
"I know! I've been dying to tell you, but we wanted to be sure." Lucrezia and Relena flung their arms around each other. "And then this last week, you've been under so much pressure. So, after the doctor finally confirmed it today, I couldn't keep it all bottled up inside anymore....well, anyway, now you know and..."  
  
"What's going on out here?" Helen entered the foyer, gesturing wildly with her cocktail. It was not the first of the evening, nor would it be the last. "You two are making so much noise."  
  
Lucrezia lifted her finger to her lips, giving Relena the international sign to keep the news to herself. Relena nodded and smiled at her mother. "We're sorry. We'll try to keep it down."   
  
Helen nodded, took a long sip and stumbled back into the parlor. Relena sighed and looked back at Lucrezia. "This is so amazing." She bent down and scooped up the unopened mail. "When are you due?"   
  
"Mid-December. We've pushed the wedding back so I can still wear my dress." She winked at the younger girl.   
  
"Oh...it's going to be a really long fall then!" Relena laughed and set the mail back onto the table without another look. She linked arms with Lucrezia. "We're going to have to stock up on pickles and ice cream. And Millardo's going to have to get rid of his cigars. And we're going to completely buy out FAO Schwartz."  
  
"And Baby Gap." Lucrezia grinned. "I want a Gap baby, sue me."  
  
She and Relena headed into the kitchen to grab a snack, still making plans. It would be a long time before Relena remembered the letter waiting for her on the hall table, or recalled the writing on the envelope. Imperfect English in Quatre's tiny script.   
  
****  
  
"Knock, knock?"  
  
Duo looked up from his history book. His mother was standing in his open doorway, arms folded over her paint-splattered smock. "What's up, Mom?"  
  
"Oh, not much. I was just getting ready to head to bed and I wondered if you wanted a study snack or something."   
  
"I'm okay. Thanks."   
  
Sara wandered into her son's room. "By the way...studying on a Friday night? Should I be worried?"   
  
"I like keeping you and Dad on your toes." Duo closed up his book. "All right. That's about enough of that."   
  
"There's my son." Sara studied him for a moment. "Tomorrow night is the prom, isn't it?"   
  
He shrugged one shoulder. "I guess."  
  
"Are you going?"   
  
After rolling off his bed, Duo reached for a set of hand-held weights. "Nah. We have a long rehearsal tomorrow and I'll probably just crash afterwards."  
  
"Hilde doesn't want to go?" Sara asked as gently as possible.  
  
Her son continued his bicep curls without pause. "I wouldn't know. I never got a chance to ask her."   
  
"I can't even imagine what she's going through, Duo. Maybe she just needs some more time."   
  
"I can give her time, Mom. But it's more than that." He lowered his arms. "I think you were right."  
  
Sara frowned. "Uh-oh...what did I say?"  
  
"A long time ago when we started going out...you told me I shouldn't limit myself to just one girl for the rest of my life after I told you Hilde was the one." Duo flopped onto the edge of his bed again. "I put everything on Hilde. And she doesn't want me anymore."  
  
"Oh, baby." Sara approached him and ran her fingers through his bangs. "When I said that, you were fifteen years old. Now, you're eighteen. Almost all grown up." She lowered her head to look him straight in the eyes. "Does your heart still tell you the same thing it did back then?" After a moment, Duo nodded. "Then, your old Mom was wrong. Not right."   
  
Duo looked down at his hands. "She doesn't want my help, Mom."   
  
"But maybe...just maybe, she needs it all the same."  
  
A minute passed as Duo considered this. Finally, he shook his head and stood up. "I don't think so." He grinned a little too brightly. "Are there any marshmallows left? I could use some smores if that snack offer still stands."  
  
Sara nodded with a heavy head. "As long as you don't mind whole-grain graham crackers and carob bars."   
  
Duo made a face. "Maybe I'll just have some leftover pizza." He bounded out of the room. But by the time he reached the kitchen, his false burst of energy had died. As he reached into the fridge for the pizza box, his thoughts had already slipped back to Hilde. He missed her so much. His hands itched with the desire to touch her; his lips ached to feel hers.   
  
"Get a grip, idiot." He lifted a cold slice from the box. "You're starting to think like a bad romance novel."   
  
****  
  
It was well past midnight before Heero finally fell asleep. Before he did so, he tucked a thick folder into his school bag. A completed biology project charting the cycle of water on earth and the effects of industry on it. An overdone topic for sure, but it had been quick and simplistic and had gotten the job done.   
  
Now neither he nor Relena would fail Biology. Heero settled back into his pillows. He could almost smell her perfume on the sheets, although he had long since washed them after their night together. His fists clenched, balling up handfuls of cloth. Why was he still thinking about her? Why did he care if she passed Biology? Why had he wanted to hit Duo and felt the need to defend her to Dorothy?  
  
She had lied to him. Told him he had been her first when in fact, he hadn't been. He hadn't thought it strange at the time, but he now remembered that she hadn't reacted in pain when he had entered her. It must have been old hat for her, having sex. With her French boyfriend. Jean-Paul.   
  
Heero flipped over onto his side. "Damn it all," he muttered, looking at his mother's smiling face from her picture. "Why do I miss her?" He closed his eyes. "Why do I still love her?"  
  
****  
  
Halfway across the world, in a small, outdoor cafe in the heart of Paris, a tall, green-eyed young man carried two cups of delicious coffee over to a wrought-iron table at which a beautiful blond man was already seated.   
  
Trowa Barton handed his boyfriend one cup after sitting down across from him. "What are you thinking about, Little One?" he asked in French.   
  
"Relena," Quatre Winner replied, accepting his breakfast. "I'm worried that she won't receive my letter in time."   
  
"You wrote and sent it several days ago." Trowa sipped his coffee. "There's no reason why you can't call her though."   
  
Quatre nodded, but continued to stare at the Seine River as it flowed past the stone arches of Notre Dame. "I will if she doesn't reply after this weekend. I'd rather not just show up unexpected."  
  
"You know Relena would never make us feel unwelcome."  
  
"Of course not." He finally took a tiny sip of his drink. "I can't wait to see her again. And to see her perform such a role. She was born to do this."   
  
Trowa reached for his boyfriend's hand. "Little One, I've been putting off telling you something."  
  
"What is it, love?"   
  
The taller dancer hesitated. "Jean-Paul. I heard he has been invited to New York."  
  
"Invited?"   
  
Trowa inclined his head. "This workshop of our Relena's. It's sort of audition for companies the world over. The bastard has been invited to find new talent for the Theatre."   
  
Quatre's fingers curled around his cup as he softly cursed. "I have to tell her, Trowa. You know him; he'll seek her out. He try it all again and maybe this time, she won't be so lucky."  
  
"Yes," Trowa agreed. A breeze blew over them. "So, what do you propose?"  
  
"We arrive in New York early. Give her ample warning." Quatre stared into his lover's eyes. "I'll change our plane tickets today."   
  
Trowa lifted Quatre's hand to his lips. "New York has nothing on Paris in the spring, Little One. But it should be a good time at any rate."   
  
"Ah, but this won't be about us, love," Quatre reminded Trowa, cupping his clean-shaven cheek. "We're going to help Relena."   
  
"Of course. But I still get to share a hotel room with you at the Plaza." Trowa arched an eyebrow with much innuendo. "Despite everything, I still feel that I'll have fun."  
  
****  
  
To Be Continued 


	16. Always on my mind

Disclaimer: I do not claim to have created the characters, only the situations they find themselves in, in this particular story.  
Author's Notes: Thank you for all the sweet reviews and comments. I'm so glad that you like the story the way I'm writing it. I hope you continue to enjoy it.  
****  
To Dance Beneath the Diamond Sky  
by Kristen Elizabeth  
****  
"So, you can't dance? Not at all? Not even one step? How can you say that you've taken any trouble to live when you won't even dance?" -Hermann Hesse   
"When you do dance, I wish you, a wave o' the sea, that you might ever do nothing but that." -Shakespeare (Winter's Tale)   
  
****  
  
Relena woke up on Saturday morning with her cheek pressed against something wet. It was a minute until she realized it was her pillow, soaked with her own tears. She sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes. The tears didn't seem to be stopping, like the rain that poured outside her window.   
  
Thunder rattled her gilded mirror as Relena threw the covers off her bare legs and got up. She walked over to the window and pushed it open. The cool mist of morning rain dampened the oversized button-down shirt she had worn to sleep. It had belonged to her father, discarded by him for having a tiny coffee stain at one time. Gerrard Dorlian did not have to put up with imperfections in anything or anyone.   
  
Which explained why he hadn't protested when his only child had decided to flee to America with her mother after the divorce.   
  
Relena sat on the cushioned bay window and drew her knees up to her chin. Her nose tickled under the light pressure of her tears. It seemed like a lifetime since Heero had climbed to her window to take her out to the Park. She shook her head suddenly. It wouldn't do her a damn bit of good to remember him like that. It only made it hurt worse. She would rather remember him in the locker room, hurtling horrible accusations at her. At least that way she could almost make herself hate him. And hating him was so much easier than missing him.  
  
The muffled sound of the grandfather clocking striking the hour filled her ears. Nine a.m. There was to be an informal rehearsal at noon, but Relena knew in her heart that neither she nor Heero were ready to dance the way they were expected to. Even if she pulled on clothes and headed over to his apartment now, nothing would be accomplished in the short amount of time. She only really had one choice.   
  
There was a knock on her door ten minutes later, right as she hung up on the call she had just finished making. Treize's assistant had been sympathetic when Relena told her about the stomach bug she was experiencing and had assured her that Treize would understand and cancel rehearsal.   
  
"Who is it?" Relena asked.   
  
"Your mother, Relena."  
  
She sighed softly. "Come in."  
  
Helen entered, fully dressed, her hair and makeup flawless. "Good morning, darling."  
  
Relena picked up an oversized stuffed bear. "Wow, you're a bit overdressed for breakfast, Mother."  
  
"Actually I thought I'd sit in on your rehearsal today. I've been fairly dying to see you dance Odette." Her mother's eyes shone with excitement. It was rare to see her mother excited about anything that wasn't distilled and served on the rocks.   
  
She spoke with near regret. "I'm sorry, Mother. Rehearsal has been canceled."   
  
Helen's smile literally dropped off her face. "What?"  
  
"I just called in sick a moment ago."  
  
"And just why would you do something like that?" her mother asked, her voice like daggers.  
  
"I woke up not feeling too..." Relena stopped. This was her own mother; why should she lie? "To tell the truth, Mother, I'm not sick." She sat on her bed and looked down at the bear in her hands. "I'm having a bit of a...personal crisis."   
  
Helen's manicured fingers dug into her palms. "What does that have to do with your dancing?"  
  
New tears slipped down her cheeks. "Oh...Mother....I can't dance with him today. He hates me! And I don't know why!"   
  
"Who hates you, Relena?" Her mother's eye twitched.   
  
"Heero," she whispered. "Who else?"  
  
Helen's mind barely registered the name. "Relena Marie Dorlian..."  
  
"It's not necessary to use my full name, Mother." Relena sniffed. "It's not like I'm really hurting here or anything."  
  
"Relena," Helen began again, her jaw painfully tight. "Men come and go. They never last long. Your dancing....your talent....that's all that matters."   
  
Relena shook her head. "No, it's not. Loving Heero...it meant more to me than anything. Even dancing."  
  
"I don't see how you can say that, Relena! After all the sacrifices I've made for you! Why the hell do you think I stayed with your father for all of those dreadful years, if not to give you the advantage of beginning your career in Paris and the money give you everything else?!"  
  
"I wouldn't know, Mother." Relena lifted her eyes to meet her mother's glare. "I suppose I always made the crazy assumption that you loved him."  
  
Helen wanted to laugh, but managed to keep a straight face. "Relena, don't you let some teenaged boy in tights distract you from everything you've tried so hard for! You can't...not after everything I've had to do...you just can't!!"  
  
"I'm sorry, Mother!" she cried, shooting to her feet. "I didn't realize this was all about you!"   
  
"Don't be a brat." Helen's heavily-kohled eyes narrowed. "And don't...*don't* hurt your career over this Heero." There was a long pause. "Have you slept with him?"  
  
"Mother!"  
  
"Have you?"  
  
Relena held up her hands. "I am not having this conversation with you."  
  
Just in time to save her from Helen's returned wrath, Lucrezia peeked her head into the room. "Relena, I just got a page from Treize saying rehearsal has been canceled. Would you like to come shopping with me?"  
  
"I'd love to," she replied, wiping her eyes. "Let me just take a shower and get dressed."  
  
Lucrezia watched her fiancee's mother carefully as Relena grabbed her robe and disappeared into her bathroom. "Would you like to come, too, Mother Helen? You're dressed for 5th Avenue."  
  
Helen brushed past the younger woman in a cloud of Chanel perfume. "I really have other things to do."   
  
"That's really okay," Lucrezia called after her.   
  
The door to her suite slammed behind her as Helen stormed into it. She paced back and forth for several minutes, her spiked heels digging into the expensive carpet. When she thought her nails were going to pierce the soft flesh of her palms, the tiny mobile phone on her dresser began to ring.   
  
"What?" she snapped after flipping it open. A moment passed and her face relaxed. "Why, hello there!" Helen laughed. "Oh, you're terrible! Yes, you are. Terrible! What's that?" She listened for a moment. "You are? Well, that's fabulous, darling! Of course! I'll come in the limo to fetch you. Yes...you too. Bye-bye!"  
  
Helen closed up her phone with a satisfying snap. Smiling, she tucked it into her purse and started out the door.  
  
****  
  
After he woke at six a.m., took a jog around his block despite the rain, worked out with his weights, and showered, Heero started breakfast for himself. His father was still passed out from whatever he had drunk the night before. Actually, he hadn't even bothered to check on him, although the loud snoring from his bedroom at least told him the old man wasn't dead.  
  
He was just adding chocolate chips to his pancake batter when the phone rang. Wiping his hands on a dish towel, he reached for the cordless. When he hung up a minute later, he cursed loudly. Treize had canceled rehearsal. A mere six days before the curtain rose.   
  
Worse than that, he wouldn't get to see Relena until school on Monday.   
  
That thought made him empty the fledgling batter into the sink. He turned the water on to watch it swirl down the drain.   
  
"Damn her, damn her, damn her!"   
  
Heero sighed. He didn't really want to damn her. The whole situation, on the other hand, could go straight to hell. He didn't need the pressure anymore. The guilt. The regret. Plainly put, he didn't need to need her.   
  
Leaving the few dirty dishes he had accumulated, Heero got dressed the rest of the way. The weather outside had been cool for spring; he pulled on a worn, brown leather jacket over his cargo pants and white T-shirt. He grabbed his keys and his wallet, already supplied with his father's American Express card.   
  
If he couldn't spend the day dancing, he could at least spend some of Ethan's money on 5th Avenue.  
  
****  
  
Duo slept through the phone call that canceled rehearsal. His mother hadn't had the heart to wake him up to take it himself. Rather, she let her son sleep in, figuring he could use the rest. And indeed, when he woke up at half past noon, he felt better than he had in weeks. Hearing rehearsal had been called off was another weight off his shoulders, but presented a new problem. What to do with an entire, empty Saturday.  
  
To pass some of the time, he took a long shower, washed and conditioned his hair. He braided it still wet and got dressed in time to enjoy a late lunch with his mother. She was waiting to hear from a gallery about her latest series of paintings; nervousness made her cook too much food, which didn't bother Duo in the least.   
  
As he was helping her clean up, Sara broached the subject that had been nagging him since he had woken up. "What are you going to do now?"  
  
"I don't know." Shrugging, Duo wiped a clean bowl. "Is there anything you need help with around here?"  
  
Sara gave her son a long look. "Duo, get out of this apartment and go see your girlfriend."  
  
He sighed dramatically. "Why, Mom? She doesn't want to see me."  
  
"I highly doubt that," she replied, glancing at her watch. "It's almost three."  
  
"And?"  
  
Sara gestured to him to follow her. Shaking his head, Duo did as she asked. Once they had reached the master bedroom, Sara turned around. "Close your eyes."  
  
"Mom, what are you doing?" Duo asked, squeezing his eyes closed.  
  
"Just...hold on a minute." His mother's voice was muffled for a moment, then became clearer. "Okay. Open them."  
  
When he did so, she was standing in front of her walk-in closet, holding a garment bag up with much glee. "What's that?" Duo asked.   
  
She unzipped the bag to reveal a black tuxedo. "No one should miss their senior prom."   
  
Duo had to smile. "Mom...this is really....I mean, I appreciate it a lot. I do. It's just that...I know Hilde. She won't agree to come with me."  
  
"You don't know until you ask," Sara insisted. "Any girl who could resist my son in a tuxedo offering to sweep her off to a dance doesn't deserve him."   
  
Because he loved his mother and couldn't bear to let her down, Duo found himself in a cab an hour later, clad in the very classy tuxedo his mother had ordered for him, heading for St. John's Hospital. A cold plastic container sat on his lap; he could just see a wrist corsage of white roses through the condensation on the lid.   
  
Sara had prepared and planned this. Next to him on the seat was another garment bag containing a dress in Hilde's size. A duffel bag at his feet held one shoe, a make-up kit and a curling iron. He felt kind of silly carrying it all with him up to Hilde's floor, but that changed as he got closer to her room. Getting swept up in his mother's prom fantasy, Duo approached the nurses' station.  
  
"Duo!" one of the nurses greeted him. "Where have you been hiding yourself?" She blushed slightly. "You look really good."  
  
He instinctively winked. "I've been around. Tonight's my school's prom, so I'm here to get Hilde ready. Can I just go on in?"  
  
The nurse hesitated. "Duo...don't you know?"  
  
"Um...know what?" Panic gripped his chest. "Is Hilde all right?!"  
  
"She's fine. She's just....been moved."   
  
"Moved?"  
  
"To another hospital in Brooklyn. She didn't tell you?"   
  
Duo's good mood vanished. He looked down at his shiny black shoes, almost afraid to keep his head up in case the sudden wave of hurt leaked out through his eyes. "No. She didn't."  
  
"I can tell you what hospital she went to. I have her transfer papers here somewhere." The nurse began searching through a stack of folders next to her computer.  
  
"That's okay. Don't worry about it." Duo looked up, managing the fakest of all smiles. "Would you like a corsage?" He held out the plastic container and waited until she accepted it with much regret. "Thanks for your help."  
  
He exited the hospital through the ambulance bay, stopping next to the wide dumpsters to get rid of the garment and duffel bags. Rather than hail a cab, he began the long walk to Chelsea in his tuxedo. His hands were free; his heart, heavy.   
  
****  
  
"Starbucks!" Lucrezia pointed her arm, ladden with bags from Saks, Macy's, Bloomingdale's and a trendy new maternity boutique called Hot Mama towards the coffee shop at the corner. "I need caffeine."  
  
Relena laughed and shook her head. "You can't. Caffeine is very bad for the baby."  
  
"Oh, come on!" The older woman raised her voice to be heard over the sounds of the crowded New York street. "For hundreds of years, women have drunk wine, worked in the fields, smoked cigarettes, all while they were pregnant and had perfectly normal babies. Do you really think one short latte two months along is going to be a problem?" She waited for Relena's reply. When it didn't come, Lucrezia turned around to see the girl. "Relena?"  
  
She was staring at something on the other side of the street, not even squinting in the glare of the setting sun. Lucrezia followed her eyes and sighed when she saw Heero Yuy through the momentary gaps between cars and vans that zipped by. And it very obvious that he had spotted them as well.  
  
Relena didn't blink for a long moment, not wanting to break the delicious stare. Despite the distance and traffic between them, not to mention the current state of their relationships, his eyes still managed to keep her captive.   
  
His expression was one of a man, lost in the world. Like a homeless person in an alley, only he was standing on 5th Avenue, holding bags from Structure and Old Navy. Relena wanted to smile; she hadn't pegged him for a fashion geek. Somehow he had always just looked like Heero. Handsome, sexy, the dangerous boy next door.   
  
Lucrezia tugged on her arm. "Relena, let's go." She wasn't sure what had happened between the young couple, but she had been witness to their dancing of late. Whatever had gone wrong with them was very bad. "Millardo will be worried. Taxi!!"   
  
Relena nodded. "All right." She let Lucrezia pull her towards the yellow cab she had just managed to flag down. Before she ducked into the back seat, she took one last look at Heero. He was still watching them, but as soon as he noticed she was looking again, he lowered his head and continued down the street.   
  
During the ride back to Park Avenue, Lucrezia kept up a steady stream of chatter, talking about everything from the workshop to the adorable pair of pink booties she hadn't been able to resist buying at Macy's baby department. She was already sure the baby was a girl; it seemed to her as natural as saying the child was hers at all.   
  
Although she smiled and nodded through it all, Relena's mind was still back on 5th Avenue. The image of Heero had been burned into her brain and nothing was going to get rid of it. The way he had looked at her...it only solidified her resolve to talk to him at school on Monday. With enough time, she could forgive him for the things he had said to her. Perhaps she could even clear up whatever misunderstanding had prompted him to say them.   
  
The thought brought a new smile to her face. By the time she and Lucrezia stepped off the elevator and onto the penthouse floor, she was actively listening to the older woman's happy conversation, even joining in with a few observations.   
  
"There you two are." Millardo entered the foyer upon hearing the front door open. "I was about to send out a search party for my credit cards."  
  
Lucrezia deposited all of their packages onto the floor and went to her fiancee, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Good to know you missed me."  
  
After a long kiss, during which Relena made a great show of rifling through the Bloomingdale's bag for the tie she had picked out for her brother, Lucrezia pulled back and glanced at the closed parlor doors. "Who's in there?"  
  
"Oh, my mother has a guest." Millardo grimaced. "She just forgot to mention I'd be hosting this guest for a week."  
  
"Sounds like your mother," Lucrezia muttered. She rolled her eyes at Relena; the girl smothered a knowing giggle. "Should we be sociable?"  
  
Relena lifted her shoulders. "Couldn't hurt."  
  
Millardo lightly slapped Lucrezia's bottom through her black pants. "You two go on. I've had enough of Mother's friend already."  
  
His little sister was already sliding open the heavy panel doors, preparing to greet whichever of the Ladies Who Lunch that her mother had brought home. When the two people in the parlor stood up as she entered and Relena got her first look at the house guest, the blood in her body immediately ceased to flow.   
  
"Ah, Relena! There you are." Helen held out her hands towards her daughter. "Look who's come to town just to see you dance, darling!"   
  
The tall man standing beside Helen smiled with smooth serenity. "Il est bon de vous revior," he murmured, bowing his head slightly. Jean-Paul Chevalier lifted his eyes again to meet Relena's frozen stare with a steady, intent gaze. "I have missed my favorite pupil."   
  
****  
  
To Be Continued 


	17. Damaged goods

Disclaimer: Everyone, all together now...  
  
Author's Notes: Sorry if this chapter is a bit short. I hope it's still good. For those of you worried about Hilde, don't;) I like her; I'll take care of her. Thank you for your continued support.   
  
****  
  
To Dance Beneath the Diamond Sky  
by Kristen Elizabeth  
  
****  
  
People strolling New York's Park Avenue just after sunset weren't particularly shocked to witness a young girl, running along the sidewalk, stumbling occasionally under the weight of her sobs, which really said something about the city in which they lived.   
  
Relena wouldn't have noticed the people she passed even if they had paid any attention to her. She just kept running, as she had from the moment she slipped out of her brother's apartment. It really didn't matter what anyone, especially her mother, thought; Relena just knew that no force on earth could keep her in the parlor for cocktails and small talk with Jean-Paul.  
  
Seeing him again was her worst nightmare come to life. Her brain hadn't even paused to consider how it was he had come to be a guest in the house....or more specifically, who had invited him. Blind panic had prevented those important questions from being asked. She wasn't exactly thinking straight as she ran uptown for five entire blocks.  
  
Gasping for air and ignoring her mascara streaked cheeks, Relena stopped in front of his building. The doorman on duty recognized her, and held the gold and glass lobby door open. He seemed concerned by her distress, but kept his mouth shut.   
  
Relena took the elevator to his floor. On the way up, she tried to wipe at her cheeks, but the tears just kept coming. She gave up when the doors slid apart. Knees weak, shoulders trembling, she knocked on Heero's door.   
  
Several long minutes later, she heard the lock turn. The door opened to the end of the metal chain. Relena frowned, then lowered her gaze. A section of Ethan Yuy's face peered up at her through the crack. "Um...is Heero here?"  
  
His father regarded her with a lecherous eye. "I haven't seen the little faggot all day."  
  
Relena flinched at his words. "All right. By the way, Mr. Yuy. You're a truly disgusting excuse for a human being." Without waiting for a reply, she turned and headed for the elevator.   
  
She stepped back onto the dark street a few minutes later; what she had said to Heero's father had only made her feel better for a brief moment. She was still completely lost. There wasn't much doubt in her mind where Heero was, and it would be very easy to hail a cab and find him in his special place in the Park.   
  
But if she did that, what would she say to him, anyway? "Heero, you were the first man who's ever wanted me, no matter what you've been led to believe...the only other was a forty year old Frenchman who tried to rape me after ballet class"? Somehow, Relena couldn't see herself actually saying the words out loud to him.   
  
Even as she was telling herself all of that, she was standing on the curb, waving her arm to flag down a passing taxi. When one stopped and she slipped into the backseat, the first words out of her mouth were, "Central Park."   
  
When they arrived, Relena pulled a crumpled five dollar bill from the pocket of her jeans and handed it to the driver as she hastily climbed out. She had only taken the path to Heero's spot once, but it wasn't something she could ever forget. Heero had shared such a huge part of himself with her that night; she had felt honored, touched...she had fallen in love.   
  
Relena tripled her speed as she came into the clearing from the wooded path. Heero's "boys" were there, playing a haunting tune she didn't recognize. Seated on the stone lip of the fountain was Heero...and a young girl with shoulder length dirty blond hair.   
  
Heero was saying something to her which prompted the girl to smile and put a hand on his shoulder. It was all Relena needed to see. She had always thought that if she were presented with a situation like this, she would stick around to see if there might be a logical explanation. But she was beyond logic. All she saw was Heero with another girl at his favorite place in the world.   
  
She walked back to her brother's apartment, not caring if she were mugged, raped or shot along the way.   
  
****  
  
"It's a really nice night, isn't it?"  
  
Heero tore his eyes away from his jazz quartet long enough to locate the person speaking. A strange girl was sitting next to him, staring at the sky with a dreamy expression. He hadn't even felt her presence until then, his mind was so clouded. "I guess," he managed to say.   
  
The girl glanced his way. "I'm Sylvia. You seemed like you could use some company."  
  
"I don't," Heero replied.   
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"Look, I'd really just like to be alone right now."   
  
Sylvia smiled and placed a soft hand on his muscled shoulder. "I've seen you here before, you know." She gestured to their surroundings. "I come here a lot...looking for company."   
  
Heero sighed. "I get it. Well, I'm not in the market for small talk, and I'm sure not in the market for a hooker."   
  
She pulled her hand back, her eyes furious. "Excuse me?! You think that I'm propositioning you?!"  
  
"Aren't you?"  
  
"I was hoping to find someone to talk to!" Sylvia stood up, hands on her hips. "And I end up being more insulted than I ever have been before!"   
  
Heero held up his hands. "It's not like I said something way out there. You approached me after dark in Central Park, asking for company. You started touching me..."  
  
"I'm a very friendly person," she scowled. "Do you have a girlfriend?" When Heero didn't reply, she continued, "I'm not surprised, if you're this horribly judgmental with everyone."  
  
"Judgmental," Heero repeated.   
  
Sylvia shook her head. "Quick to jump to conclusions without all the facts. Egotistical." She started walking away. "Just generally a jerk. No wonder you're in the Park all alone."   
  
Heero didn't blink for a long minute after she had stalked away. A perfect stranger had written him off as judgmental, and all he had done was draw a logical conclusion based on...  
  
He stopped. Relena. But that was different, he told himself. In her case, he had hard testimony from her own mother...the same mother Relena had once described as an egg-donor, temporary shelter for nine months, and not much else.   
  
It took a lot of willpower to keep from running straight to her building and scaling her fire escape. It was going to take a lot more to wait until Monday morning when he could confront her...and hopefully find out that he was just an egotistical jerk.  
  
****  
  
"What are you watching?"  
  
Duo didn't turn his glazed stare from the television screen. "Saturday Night Live," he replied to his father's question.   
  
Robert Maxwell eased back into his padded armchair. "Did I ever tell you about time I watched it being taped?" He continued when Duo shook his head. "1983. Your mom was pregnant with you and I simply had to get out of the house for the night. I was still adjusting the idea of impending parenthood. Carrie Fisher was hosting. And they did this skit about a baby. Halfway though, I realized..." He chuckled. "I realized that Princess Leia was sending me a cosmic message that I was ready to be a father."  
  
"Isn't this the story where you tried acid?" Duo folded his arms over his bare chest. "I thought it was sounding familiar."   
  
"Please...I dropped that stuff for the first time in the basement of my cousin's house ten years before I even met your mother." His father picked up the remote control and muted Jimmy Fallon. "She didn't go to the prom with you."   
  
"It's not even that simple."  
  
"Care to elaborate?" Duo shook his head. "Okay. Well, I wish I had something brilliant and parental to say." Robert glanced over at his son. "I don't. But I can tell you that you're young. You have your whole life ahead of you. When you look back on all of this in twenty years..." He sighed. "Hell, I don't know. I just have to wonder if she's really worth all the torment she's putting you through."  
  
Duo shifted until he was lying across the couch on his side, a soft throw pillow stuffed under his cheek. "She is, Dad. I don't even need a cosmic message from George Lucas."   
  
"But it would help, right?" Robert winked at his only son.  
  
Smiling despite himself, Duo raised his arm to the ceiling. "Guide me, George! Tell me which path to choose!"  
  
"Go for the Dark Side," his father advised. "Chicks dig the Dark Side."   
  
Duo let his arm flop back against his side. "As long as I get a light saber, it's all good." There was a long pause as both father and son watched the silent SNL cast. "I really love her, Dad."   
  
"I know, son," Robert said a minute later. "I know."  
  
****  
  
Relena's sleep was fitful that night. Although she had been spared seeing Jean-Paul when she returned to the penthouse as the rest of the household had gone out for dinner, he was, to her, still a powerful presence in the house. She tossed and turned for hours, knowing the guest room in which he slept was only two doors down from her own.   
  
She woke late, and much to her relief, Helen had already whisked her guest off for a day of sight-seeing. Over a breakfast of strawberries and croissants, Lucrezia drew a sickening picture for her. As her brother's fiancee saw it, her mother simply had to be sleeping with Jean-Paul.   
  
The very thought, not to mention mental picture, so disgusted Relena that she promptly lost the contents of her stomach in the hall bathroom. Even though she felt better almost instantly, she refused to eat another bite when she rejoined her brother and his fiancee at the table.   
  
"I'm the one who's supposed to be throwing up in the mornings," Lucrezia said, popping a strawberry into her mouth.  
  
Millardo quietly sipped his coffee. "Right. I forgot about that fun part of pregnancy."   
  
Relena cleared her throat delicately. "So...neither of you like Mother's guest?"   
  
"He's not....bad," her brother replied, diplomatically.  
  
Lucrezia gave her a lover a look. "Be honest. Five minutes around him and you feel like you need to take a shower to be clean again."  
  
"Well, Mother seems to like him," he tossed back.   
  
"I told you." She speared another piece of fruit. "She's sleeping with him."  
  
"Please...I don't want to throw up again." In spite of herself, Relena managed to smile. "Besides...he doesn't like women." **Only girls. Young ones.**  
  
Lucrezia lifted her eyebrow. "I should have guessed. He is a French ballet instructor, after all."  
  
"I'll try not to take offense to that." Millardo grinned over the rim of his coffee cup.   
  
"Good, because you're not French." Lucrezia watched him stand up. "Where are you going?"  
  
Millardo pulled on his jacket which had been draped over his chair. "To the office."  
  
"It's Sunday," Relena reminded him.   
  
He leaned down to kiss Lucrezia's forehead. "It's the 29th. Pay checks go out tomorrow for the company members."   
  
Lucrezia smiled. "Let him go. That's a worthy cause."   
  
Relena blinked several times. "Today is the 29th?" When they both nodded, she abruptly stood up. "Excuse me."  
  
Bursting into her room a moment later, Relena made a beeline for her day planner. She tore into it, turning pages with the speed of light until she reached April. Her finger traced the blocks devoted to each day, searching. But it wasn't there. Between rehearsals, haircuts and costume fittings, she had missed one very important appointment.   
  
Her period.  
  
Panic started in the center of her chest and quickly radiated out to the tips of her fingers. After what seemed like years, but was really only twenty minutes, Relena sat back against the ruffled bedskirt, her breasts rising and falling as she struggled for breath. It was impossible. Impossible. She found herself repeating the word over and over again, a life preserver to which she desperately clung.  
  
When someone knocked on her door, Relena reached her boiling point. "What?!" she screamed, slamming her fists into the carpet.   
  
"Miss Relena." The housekeeper, Magda. "There's someone at the door to see you."   
  
She had no desire to see anyone, but out of habit, took the old woman's cue and started through the apartment. Millardo and Lucrezia were gone; the rooms were eerie in their silence. Rounding the corner into the front hallway, Relena felt the familiar pressure of hot, rising tears.   
  
When she saw Quatre Winner and Trowa Barton standing in the hallway, surrounded by luggage, she completely broke down.   
  
Quatre wasted no time gathering her into his arms. "What is it, Relena?" he murmured in French as he gently rocked her. "These are not tears for our unexpected visit, are they?"  
  
"They're not," Relena replied, in French as well, in case the housekeeper was listening. "Oh, Quatre..." She lifted her head from his shoulder. "Trowa..." Taking the hand Quatre's boyfriend offered her, Relena let it all pour out. "Jean-Paul is staying with us for a week at my mother's invitation. I'm going to fail Biology and make a fool out of myself in front of New York on Friday night. The man I love can't stand to be around me and has already moved on with other girls." She sniffed. "And I might be pregnant with his baby."   
  
Trowa looked at his blond companion. "I think we did not arrive in the nick of time, Little One."   
  
****  
  
To Be Continued 


	18. Love hurts

Disclaimer: Characters not mine, etc.  
  
Author's Notes: Yall like the story! This makes me so happy. It's a merry writer's buzz...hehe. Thank you so much for helping me get high;)  
  
****  
  
To Dance Beneath the Diamond Sky  
by Kristen Elizabeth  
  
****  
  
"In life, as in dance, grace glides on blistered feet." -Alice Abrams  
  
"Let us read and let us dance, two amusements that will never do any harm to the world." -Voltaire  
  
****  
  
"And I see that today it's Miss Dorlian who's absent." The long-suffering Biology teacher gave Heero a sad look. "I don't suppose there's any hope that you two completed your project over the weekend?"   
  
Heero dug into his bag and produced the thick report. "Dock whatever points you think you need to," he said, holding it out. "But we just didn't have the time to put together a presentation."   
  
Mr. Berardis shook his head. "I'll only take off five points, seeing as how you're both under a lot of pressure."  
  
"Yeah..." In his own desk with his arm around a stereotypical cheerleader, Kyle snickered. "Poor ballerina boy."   
  
"Ballerina boy? Nice to see you expanding on your kindergarten vocabulary, Kyle." The teacher took Heero's report and headed back up to his desk. "Now, I know you're all graduating in two weeks, but I really....well, I don't care. I still have to teach you everything I know about plant reproduction, so get your books out and turn to page 159."   
  
Heero went through the motions, but paid little attention when the lesson began. The space next to him felt too empty; he wondered if it felt the same way to Relena all of the days he had been absent. Where was she? Was she sick? Or did she simply not want to be around him?   
  
"Mr. Yuy, can you read the second paragraph on the stamen, please?"   
  
With a sigh, Heero began to read. It was going to be a very long day.  
  
****  
  
"We only had sex once! And we used a condom!"   
  
Quatre looked around the restaurant, grateful that Relena was at least pouring out her frustrations in French. Even though it was a Monday afternoon, the restaurant on the edge of the Central Park pond was relatively crowded. "Relena...cher. You simply must take the test."  
  
Setting down her water glass, Relena shot a look down at the shopping bags next to her chair. When Quatre and Trowa had convinced her to skip school and spend the day shopping with them, she hadn't known that their first stop would be at a drugstore to purchase a pregnancy test. It was now stuffed between a backless top from the Gap and Quatre's new leather jacket from Barney's. "I'm afraid to," she admitted. "I don't have any idea what to do if it comes out positive."   
  
"What if it doesn't?" Trowa asked, lighting a cigarette. "Is it not better to know for sure?"  
  
Relena lifted her shoulders, staring at her half-eaten salmon. "Ignorance is bliss," she muttered in English. She repeated the equivalent of the phrase in French.   
  
Quatre smiled sadly. "I think you do not wish to take it until you talk to your Heero. Yes?"  
  
"Yes." She tucked her hair behind her ears like a little girl. "I want him to be by my side while I take it. And I want to know that he'll still be there no matter what it says." Relena shook her head. "But he won't be."  
  
Their waitress approached the table. "Are you in the mood for dessert?" she asked in a soft, Jersey accent.   
  
"Chocolat," Quatre said, giving Trowa a meaningful look.   
  
Trowa nodded and reached for the dessert menu she handed him. After looking it over for a minute, he handed it to Relena. "My English is bad," he explained in French.   
  
She smiled and quickly chose for them. "A classic American chocolate sundae. Whipped cream, nuts, cherries, the whole works."   
  
The young girl moved off and Relena turned her stare towards the gold-green waters of the pond. She picked up where she had left off, moving gracefully from English to French. "He thinks I'm a slut. He probably wouldn't even believe the baby was his. If there is a..."  
  
"Relena Dorlian."  
  
She recognized the voice immediately; her eye twitched. "Dorothy." Twisting her head to the other side of the table, Relena managed to give her classmate a surprised smile. "Imagine running into you here."  
  
"Especially on a school day," Dorothy agreed. "Playing hooky to go shopping..." She gave both Quatre and Trowa a thorough once-over. "...with two gorgeous men, Relena?"  
  
Quatre, ever the gentleman, stood up and reached for Dorothy's hand. "It is a pleasure to meet you," he said in his halted English. Dorothy's eyes widened in pleasant shock as Quatre kissed the back of her knuckles.   
  
Relena smiled. "Dorothy, I'd like you to meet my oldest friends from Paris. My former pas de deux partner, Quatre Winner..." She gestured to Trowa. "And his boyfriend, Trowa Barton." It gave her immeasurable pleasure to watch Dorothy's face fall. "They've come to watch the workshop."   
  
Trowa nodded, exhaled a curl of smoke, and in his quiet French, commented, "Your eyebrows frighten me, mademoiselle."  
  
Dorothy gave him a huge, fake smile to cover up the fact that she could not understand him. "My pleasure, I'm sure." She looked back at Relena, who was trying very hard not to choke on a mouthful of water. "Will I see you in rehearsal, Relena, or will you be skipping that, too?"  
  
"I'll be there," she assured her. With a flounce of her too-long hair, Dorothy walked off through the restaurant. Relena rolled her eyes.  
  
"Who was that?" Quatre asked, switching back to French.   
  
Relena spied their waitress approaching with an enormous ice cream sundae. "Just a member of the corps. She doesn't like me very much."   
  
Quatre didn't have a chance to press the issue; he soon found himself faced with mounds of chocolate and whipped cream. A gleam in his eye, he dug in. Trowa smoked and watched his lover eat, a smile on his lips upon seeing the blond boy so content. Relena herself only took a few bites before sitting back in her seat with a sigh. Her ankle brushed against the shopping bags, an unnecessary reminder of her future's uncertainty.   
  
But while sitting outside, in Central Park, on a gorgeous spring day, watching Quatre, her favorite person in the world, feed a cherry to his boyfriend before stealing a kiss over the table, she just couldn't be sad anymore.  
  
****  
  
It never ceased to amaze Heero how, just by the simple act of entering a room, Relena managed to light up his entire world. He couldn't keep his eyes off of her as she walked through the backstage halls, dressed in her rehearsal skirt, which would have looked ridiculous on anyone else. She seemed preoccupied with something; even as she passed by him, she kept her eyes on the tiled floor against which her pink toe shoes made soft, wooden noises.   
  
Heero was brought back to reality when someone grabbed the elastic strap of his own shoe and snapped it violently. "Fuck!" He looked up, not at all surprised to see Duo glaring down at him. "Bored, Maxwell?"  
  
"Don't look at her," Duo said without a trace of his characteristic cheerfulness. "You don't deserve to look at her like that."  
  
"And you do?" Heero challenged.  
  
The braided dancer shook his head. "Relena is my friend. I'm only protecting her from the bastard who broke her heart." He leaned in for clarification. "That's you, by the way."  
  
"I had my reasons."  
  
"That's bullshit," Duo spat back. "And you know it. Open your fucking eyes, Heero. All that shit you accused her of doing...does any of it sound like Relena? Honestly?"  
  
Heero turned a heavy, hooded stare onto him. "You couldn't possibly understand. So back off."  
  
"Are you afraid to ask her for the truth, whatever it might be? Do you like being able to sit in the shadows and brood over your supposed betrayal?"  
  
"What do you think?"  
  
Duo crossed his arms. "I think you do. It ensures that you don't actually have to be on the front lines, in a real relationship. You're playing it safe." He shook his head. "You're a coward."  
  
Heero stood up slowly. "Never, ever call me that again."  
  
"Then...go talk to her and I won't be able to." Duo searched the other boy's eyes. "If you love her...if you ever loved her...you'll swallow your goddamn pride, deflate your ego, and take back the only thing good thing in your life." He paused. "Besides dancing."  
  
"Everyone! Act II places. This is your two minute call for Act II places."   
  
Duo glanced up at the announcement pumped through the backstage intercom. "That's my cue. And yours, too, I believe." He started walking away, ballet shoes in hand. "By the way...she loves you. She'll forgive you."   
  
Heero needed a lifetime to pour over that thought, but he only got two minutes. By the time he reached the wings, the corps had already fluttered onto the stage. Relena was patiently waiting for her cue, rising up and down on her toes in a final bit of stretching.  
  
She gasped suddenly, feeling the warm solidity of his body directly behind her. His breath against her ear sent a shiver through her entire frame. "I need to talk to you," he whispered.  
  
Relena cleared her throat and tried to focus on the corps as they danced in perfect sync. "I need to talk to you, too."   
  
"Come with me to the Park after this."   
  
"You're not meeting that girl there again?"  
  
Heero frowned. "What are you talking about?"   
  
"Later," Relena replied. "Ten o'clock. Your spot." She lifted her arms over her head, preparing for her entrance. "Tell the blond girl to stay home."  
  
When he followed her several minutes later, he lifted her into arms in the long-memorized movements that suddenly seemed fresh and new again. Even Treize had no complaints as they danced; Siegfried and Odette were back. But, Heero wondered as he walked her through an arabesque turn, could he and Relena come back to life as well?  
  
****  
  
His jazz band wasn't there when he arrived in the Park, a bad omen if ever there was one. He had gotten there fifteen minutes early, and spend the extra time purchasing a pink blush rose from a nearby vendor. The color reminded him of Relena's lips the night he had kissed them for the very first time.   
  
With the rose in his hand, he wandered in restless patterns around the fountain. Ten o'clock came and went. A cool breeze ruffled Heero's hair as he checked his watch for the hundredth time.   
  
"Relena...where are you?"   
  
****  
  
It was a successful evening. She had arrived home before Jean-Paul and her mother returned from an exhibit at the Whitney Museum. Quatre and Trowa called while she ate dinner in her room, and they agreed to meet for a late supper the next night. She also made a mental note to invite Duo. He needed to get out and have some fun, plus she was looking forward to introducing her friends.  
  
Although she was pretty much set to graduate, she did some homework, but her mind wasn't really on it. When a glance at her clock told her it was a little after ten, Relena quickly got up and went to change her clothes.   
  
She had just finished tying the back of her top when there was a knock on the door. Without thinking, she called out, "Come in."  
  
Jean-Paul stepped into the room causing Relena to take an instinctive step back. "Relena...cher," he began.  
  
"Get out of here," she told him in French, so there was no mistake. "Get out of here before I scream."  
  
"You do not seem glad to see me, cher." Rather than do as she asked, he closed the door. "You have been avoiding me, yes?"  
  
Relena suddenly wished she had put on a thick sweater, rather than a black velvet backless, strapless top. "I swear...if I scream, Millardo will be in here in five seconds."  
  
"I am sure he would be." Jean-Paul slipped his hands into his pockets. "Were he here. But he and his fiancee have gone out for the evening. And your maman..." He smiled. "I am afraid she had too much drink at our dinner. She is passed out in her room. That leaves you and I, cher."  
  
Too frightened to do much else, Relena backed up against her desk. "Leave me alone. Please..."   
  
"Why are you a frightened animal, ma cher? I do not wish to hurt you. I only wish to finish what we started."   
  
Relena shook her head. "There was no 'we'. You tried to rape me!"  
  
Jean-Paul made a condescending "tsk-ing" sound. "You misunderstood me. I only wanted to be with you, cher. We have something very special. Why do you think I have come here? It is not to spend time with your silly maman." He approached her steadily. "You ran away from me in Paris. But you cannot run now. You are..."   
  
He stopped suddenly, something on Relena's bed catching his eye. She realized, too late, that when she had pulled her new top out of her shopping bags, the pregnancy test had fallen out and now lay exposed on the thick quilt. Jean-Paul studied it for a minute, but his English didn't need to be great to figure out what it was. He looked back at her with disbelief. "What is that?" he demanded.  
  
"It's none of your business," she whispered. A moment passed; they ran forward to make a grab for the box. Jean-Paul got there first, crushing the cardboard in his hand.   
  
"You have let another man have you?!" He grabbed her wrist. "Answer me, cher!"  
  
Relena tugged her arm back, trying to get away. She had always thought he was just a rapist; now she realized he was completely insane. "Let go of me. You don't have any right to..."   
  
He cut her off with a hard, bruising kiss. "Do not fight me, cher. It will only make it bad for you."   
  
She screamed around his mouth when he pushed her to the floor. After he gathered her flailing wrists above her head, he pinned them down with one hand, while his other hand pulled at her top. "Help!" Relena cried. "Help me!!"  
  
Jean-Paul moved the hand that was holding down hers to cover her mouth. "Be quiet! I only want to be with you!"   
  
"I don't!" she shouted. Her teeth clamped down on one of his fingers, startling him. She took the opportunity to push him away by his shoulders. Her knee lifted; she slammed it into his groin. He yelled in pain and rolled to the side. Relena scrambled to her feet, her top slipping down and exposing her nipples. Sobs welled up in her chest. "Get out of here!"  
  
He struggled to his knees, still doubled over. "Fucking cunt," he hissed in French. "We are not finished here, cher." Once he was back on his feet, Jean-Paul staggered for the door, spitting on the floor before he slammed the door closed behind him.   
  
Relena dropped back down on her knees, clutching at her top to keep it up. Her back curved until her cheek was pressed into the carpet as she cried. It was several minutes until she heard a light tapping on her bay window. Her head shot up.  
  
Through the open curtains, she could see Heero, crouching on the fire escape, pink roses in his hand, a knight in leather and Dockers.   
  
****  
  
To Be Continued 


	19. Hold her closer

Disclaimer: The usual stuff.  
  
Author's Notes: This chapter is a rather short, but I hope it rings true, nonetheless. The next chapter will be longer. And yall know me; if things seem like they've been patched up too easily...the good times might not be here to stay;) I hope you keep tuning in to find out, and thank you for everything.  
  
****  
  
To Dance Beneath the Diamond Sky  
by Kristen Elizabeth  
  
****  
  
By the time Relena finished telling her story, Heero's entire body was ridged. He sat in her dressing table chair, clutching the wooden arms so hard that his knuckles turned pinkish-white.  
  
"Where is he? I'll kill him." He released the chair and shot to his feet. "I'll fucking kill him."   
  
Relena ran after him as he stormed out into the apartment. "Heero...please..." She lowered her head as Heero started throwing doors open. "Please, Heero..."  
  
He stopped when he realized they were alone. Jean-Paul had fled. It was then that the pieces came together and the enormity of what he had done hit him. "Jesus..." Unable to stand anymore, he dropped down into a crouch. "How can you even look at me anymore after all the...all the things I said to you that day?" He plunged all ten fingers into his hair. "Relena?" Forcing back the rage that welled up in his chest, directed at himself as well as Jean-Paul, he stood and walked back to her. "Baby...are you all right?"   
  
She shook her head. "No, I'm not." Her forehead pressed against his shoulder as he drew her into the comfortable circle of his arms. "I thought my whole life was coming together. I was dancing the part of my dreams. I fell in love with you. Paris was a lifetime away." Relena pulled back. "But you started some horrible chain reaction...and I have no idea now how it all slipped away!" Her fist balled up and she slammed it repeatedly into his hard, muscled arm. "You hurt me so much, you jerk! I'm not a slut! I've never slept with anyone but you....no one's ever wanted me, except Jean-Paul who's absolutely crazy! I don't know how you could think...how you could think I'd lie...and cheat and...." She stopped, unable to go on.   
  
Heero eyes closed briefly as he let her finish pummeling him. "Relena...your mother...she told me that you and that bastard..." He let the sentence trail off, not needing to elaborate. "I believed her. I have no excuse. But imagining you with someone else...I couldn't stand it. I lashed back to make it go away."   
  
"Why didn't just you ask me?" She studied his handsome face. "Heero? Why?"  
  
"I have no excuse," he repeated. "I fucked up. I hurt you and I'm sorry. But I never, ever stopped loving you, Relena. Never. I couldn't even stop thinking about you. And I tried. God, I tried. I hope you'll forgive me for that, too."   
  
"Then all of this...it's her fault." Relena lowered her head back to his shoulder. "My mother...she hates me, Heero. She brought him back into my life, she told you lies...why?? I can't figure it out!" She hugged his torso for support. "Why is all of this happening to me?"   
  
He held her for a long time as she cried, stroking the soft flesh of her back. "Relena," he finally began. "You have to press charges."   
  
"It's my word against his," she whispered. "And he has my own mother on his side. There would be no point."   
  
"Baby...I'm so sorry." Heero cupped her face in his hands. "When I see him, I'll make him wish he had never laid eyes on you."   
  
Relena sniffed. "I don't want you doing anything that might jeopardize your future. He's not worth it."   
  
"He's not going to go without paying for this, Relena." His thumbs wiped her cheeks clean. "I swear."  
  
"Heero...let's just forget about him for now. Please." She pressed her lips to his, erasing the lingering horror of Jean-Paul's attack. "I thought you hated me. I thought I'd never get to touch you again."   
  
He shook his head. "I intend to make it all up to you, somehow."   
  
Relena's arms curved around his back. "Just hold me like this and you'll be off to a good start."   
  
After a long minute of doing just that, Heero looked around. "Let's get out of the hall." He bent down, lifted her off the ground, and carried her back into her bedroom. "I guess you probably could have walked on your own."  
  
She smiled through her leftover tears. "I don't mind." Her eyes darted to the slightly mangled pregnancy test box. "Oh god..."  
  
Heero frowned. "What's wrong?"  
  
Relena's gaze snapped back up to him. "Heero...about the thing I wanted to talk to you about..."   
  
****  
  
"I wish she had agreed to come and stay with us."   
  
Trowa looked down at his lover's crown of tousled blond hair. "If she had, we could not have spent the night as we have."   
  
Quatre chuckled and dropped a kiss onto the taller boy's flat, tanned and deliciously bare stomach. "It would not kill you to go without for one night. You may not take me so much for granted."  
  
"I take nothing for granted," Trowa said, running a gentle hand up and down Quatre's back. He nestled his head further into the down pillow. "He would not be foolish enough to touch her under her brother's roof."  
  
"You forget, ma cher..." Quatre threw his head back to look up at his boyfriend. "Crazy men are fools enough."  
  
Trowa thought about that for a moment. "Do you wish to call her? To see if she is all right?"   
  
"It is very late," Quatre replied. "Perhaps I am being the Mother Hen, as they say."   
  
"Our Relena is strong." Trowa inched his body down the bed until they were face to face. "We are here if she needs us. But until then..." He pulled the expensive sheet over their heads. "Do not forget yourself, that we are on vacation, Little One."   
  
He didn't think about Relena again for a long time. But when Trowa finally fell asleep, spooned up behind his body, Quatre couldn't shake the knawing sensations of worry and guilt. Sleep only came to him by means of his lover's steady breath on the back of his neck. Trowa, the ever-solid foundation upon which his happiness was built.   
  
****  
  
The alarm on Heero's watch beeped. He sat up on the bed, still cradling Relena in his arms. "Time's up."   
  
Relena closed her eyes and turned her face into his collar. "Do we have to look?"  
  
"We've both been in some sort of purgatory for the past ten minutes. Let's look at it and find out and know for sure so we can make plans if..."  
  
"If the worst happens," Relena finished for him. Heero's fingers threaded through hers. "All right. Let's do it."   
  
They held hands as they re-entered Relena's bathroom. To keep from biting her nails, she stuffed her other hand in the pocket of the terrycloth robe she had changed into. The tester was lying next to the marble sink. Relena turned her head. "You look. I can't."  
  
Taking a breath, Heero picked up the stick and the box to compare his findings. After a long minute, Relena could actually feel his body relax. "It's negative."   
  
Her eyes popped open. "Really?"  
  
"See for yourself." Heero showed her.  
  
Relena's knees sank as a wave of relief washed over her. "Oh my god...thank you so much."   
  
Heero wrapped the box and the tester in toilet paper. "I don't think you want your housekeeper to see this." He threw it into the garbage can without reverence. "Are you all right?"  
  
"I'm better," she replied, embracing him again. "I wouldn't have been if you hadn't been here with me."   
  
His lips found the top of her head. "It's my fault you even had to go through this."   
  
"I don't remember you forcing me to..." She stopped suddenly. "Someone's here."   
  
Heero's eyes narrowed into thin, stormy blue slits. "If it's him..."  
  
"Relena!" Lucrezia's voice called out for her. "Are you here?"  
  
She pushed Heero out of the bathroom. "Oh, this doesn't look good. Me in my bathrobe alone in the house with you!"  
  
He had to smile. "I suppose this is my cue to make a hasty exit."  
  
"Hello? Relena?" It was Millardo this time, calling to her.   
  
Relena ushered him to the window. "I'm sorry. I just..."  
  
"I know. God, I hate leaving you here like this." He gently took her hands, kissing each palm. "I love you, Relena."  
  
"I love you, too," she replied without hesitation. A frown suddenly skirted across her face. "Question. Are we failing Biology?"  
  
He shook his head before capturing her lips in a deep kiss. "I took care of it."   
  
There was a knock on her door. "Relena?"   
  
She dropped her voice to a whisper. "Have dinner with me tomorrow night. I want you to meet my friends."   
  
Heero nodded. "But only if you promise to come to school. And lock your door tonight. Push the dresser in front of it. Keep the phone next to you on your..."   
  
Relena smiled. "Deal." After another, slower kiss, she urged him out the window. "Be careful, Heero!"   
  
"Relena, is anything wrong?" Lucrezia's voice was concerned. "Hello?"  
  
He was already down the fire escape when Relena thought of one more thing. She stuck her head out the window. "What about the blond..." He didn't hear her and kept descending. "...girl?" With a sigh, Relena closed the window. She could berate him about that later.   
  
After smoothing down her hair, she went to answer her door. Lucrezia and Millardo were waiting in the hall. "I'm sorry," she immediately apologized. "I was...in the bathroom."   
  
Millardo lifted an eyebrow, but after he managed a quick peek around his little sister and saw no one in her room, he relaxed. "How was your evening?"  
  
Relena looked down at the carpet. "There wasn't a dull moment."  
  
****  
  
Heero waited in the alley between Relena's building and the next until he saw the light in her bedroom go out. He waited another five minutes before he climbed back up the endless fire escape. She hadn't locked the window, and he made a mental note to scold her later.   
  
He crawled through the curtains and over her bay window, landing on the floor without any noise. Relena was curled up in her four poster bed, her eyes closed in what appeared to be dreamless sleep. Her hair was a golden halo spread out across her pillows.   
  
It brought a smile to his lips to see that she had dragged a heavy armchair in front of her door and placed the cordless phone next to her hand on top of the covers. After shedding his jacket, Heero walked over to the bed and replaced the phone in its cradle.   
  
"You are so beautiful," he whispered, sitting next to her on the bed.  
  
Relena's eyes opened. "And you're so predictable." She smiled upon seeing his long-sleeved grey shirt that clung to his sculpted torso. "Okay, gorgeous, too."   
  
Heero leaned over her, his lips brushing over her forehead, eyelids, cheeks and finally, her mouth. "I couldn't just leave. I never would have slept tonight, anyway."   
  
"For worrying about me?" Her cool hands slipped under his collar as they kissed. "I didn't realize."  
  
"That I think about you constantly?" Heero gave her his rare smile. "I thought it was too obvious. Even when I tried to hate you, I was still thinking about you."   
  
Relena hesitated for only a second as she pulled back the covers on the empty side of the bed. "Stay the night?" she asked in a soft voice.   
  
"But your brother..."  
  
She silenced him with a kiss. "We'll only be sleeping. And in the morning, you can sneak out the same way you came in. Like Romeo after visiting Juliet."  
  
"Why don't you compare us to a couple who end up a little more happy?" Heero started pulling off his shoes.   
  
Relena watched him stand and unfasten his pants, her heart beating fast within her breast. "I can't think of one right now." Stepping out of his Dockers, he tugged his shirt over his head. "I'll get back to you."   
  
In only his boxer briefs, Heero slipped under the covers next to her. "Are you sure this is all right?"  
  
"I didn't feel safe until I felt you come back through my window." Relena pressed closer to him. "You are my Lancelot."  
  
Heero shook his head. "He betrayed Arthur with the Queen. Keep thinking about it." His arms circled her shoulders as he settled back into the pillows.   
  
His body was so strong and warm, Relena could already feel herself slipping into her dreams. "Sleeping Beauty and her Prince?" she murmured.  
  
"Nothing Disney has made into a movie."   
  
She exhaled softly. "I'll keep thinking about it."  
  
Heero kissed her forehead. "Later. For now, just sleep. I'll still be here when you wake up."   
  
"You had better be." Her fingers tangled in his short hair, her last motion before sleep claimed her. "I love you."   
  
For the first time in days, Heero let himself sleep as well. "I love you, too."   
  
****  
  
To Be Continued 


	20. Bittersweet symphony

Disclaimer: You know...the usual stuff. Nothing new. Nothing fancy. Just not mine.  
  
Author's Notes: Thank you for everything; I can't say that enough. I'm so glad you all like reading this little story of mine.   
  
****  
  
To Dance Beneath the Diamond Sky  
by Kristen Elizabeth  
  
****  
  
Tuesday came and went, although for Relena, it was the happiest day she had experienced in what seemed like a very long time. School was uneventful; the seniors were so close to graduation that no teacher, save for Mr. Berardis, were forcing any real work upon them. She and Heero held hands underneath their lab desk for the entire lecture on plant reproduction. They ate lunch together in an empty classroom, and after school, rode together to the theatre in Relena's limo.   
  
Rehearsal was a dream. Relena felt light as feather, as though Jean-Paul were still halfway across the planet and not living in her house. Her heart and soul were in her performance, matched only by Heero's own enthusiasm. After the run-through was over, there was a smattering of applause from the few people in the audience.   
  
Duo met up with them in the wings, having already changed back into his street clothes while they received notes from Treize and Lucrezia. "Now that is why you two are going to blow New York away on Friday."   
  
"Thank you, Duo." Relena hugged him, then stepped back and took Heero's hand. "I know it's short notice, but would you have dinner with me, Heero, and my friends who just flew in from Paris?"  
  
"I don't know, Relena. I mean...I should probably just get home in case Hilde...or, um, anyone for that matter calls. With big, important news. And if I wasn't there..."  
  
Relena exchanged a look with Heero. "We're going for Thai food."  
  
"I really shouldn't..."  
  
"Bahn Garden on East 73rd," Heero informed him.  
  
Duo lifted his shoulders. "I guess I could get away for a few hours."  
  
The meal Relena ended up sharing with Heero and her closest friends in the world went over like a dream. She could sense that Quatre and Trowa were wary of Heero, although they both took an immediate liking to Duo. Eventually though, due in no small part to the large quantities of Asian beer that were consumed, they loosened up and began to treat Heero like part of the family.   
  
In fact, the only sticky spot of the whole evening came at the very end when the cab she, Heero, Quatre and Trowa were taking uptown stopped in front of the Plaza to drop off the French couple. Trowa leaned back into the cab after the door closed to address Heero with a single English sentence that he had probably been practicing to say all day.   
  
"If you are ever hurting Relena again, I cut off your deek."   
  
As the cab pulled away, Heero frowned. "My deek?"  
  
Relena put a hand to her mouth to cover her smile. "Oh come on."   
  
After another second, Heero winced. "The French are ruthless."  
  
"Oui," she agreed, giving him a deep kiss. "I suppose we'll have to keep being this happy. Because I kind of like your deek."   
  
In the front seat their driver snickered, putting a permanent blush onto Relena's cheeks. But it didn't stop her from accompanying Heero up to his apartment when they reached it and spending a few hours backing up her claim.   
  
****  
  
When Duo arrived back at his parents flat, still fanning his mouth from the spice flames of his dinner, he found two pieces of mail waiting for him on his plaid comforter. The first was yet another college brochure which he set aside. The second was a plain, white envelope addressed to him with the return address of New Hope Hospital in Brooklyn. The writing was in Hilde's looped script.  
  
He tore into it.   
  
**Dear Duo,  
  
No, I'm not dead. And I'm not in St. John's either, as you've probably noticed by now. I'm sorry for moving without letting you know. I have a million reasons and none of them sound good now as I'm thinking about them.   
  
But that's not why I'm writing. I simply want to wish you luck on the workshop. You should get this before it. You're an amazing dancer, Duo. I know your dreams are going to come true. I'll be thinking about you, even though I'm no longer part of that world.   
  
Please don't worry about me. I'm going to be all right. I just don't want to be around people right now. Maybe someday. I don't know. Take care of yourself, Duo, and tell everyone to break a leg. Just not an ankle. Kidding.   
  
Hilde**  
  
****  
  
"I can't believe it's tomorrow."  
  
Heero reached for one of Relena's baked potato chips. "Are you nervous?"  
  
She glanced up at the noon sun as he chewed. "Yes," was her honest answer. "What if I don't make the company here?"  
  
"How could you not?" He stole another chip. "You're the best."  
  
"I wasn't before Hilde's accident."  
  
Heero swallowed and took her hand. "It was all in there. You just had to let it out."   
  
Relena squeezed his fingers. "I think that with you as a partner, any girl is an Anna Pavlova."   
  
Their kiss that followed was abruptly interrupted. "Hey, Relena..." Kyle knelt on the grass beside them, a dumb smile on his too-perfect face. Heero's expression soured instantly.  
  
"What do you want?" Relena asked. "You're making us lose our appetites."  
  
"Some of us were wondering..." Kyle gestured back to his table where all the popular eyes in the school were directed towards their corner of the courtyard. "Relena...when you and Yuy are fucking, does he ever accidently slip and stick it in the right hole, or is it just up the ass all the..."  
  
Heero's fist slammed into Kyle's nose. The lunchtime buzz of the courtyard was silenced by the sound of cartilage crunching. Relena paled as blood spurted out of the football player's nose, drenching the starched white of his uniform shirt.   
  
"Don't you ever talk that way to Relena again," Heero hissed, grabbing Kyle by his collar. "Got it?"   
  
"Fuck! You broke my nose!" the other boy spluttered around the blood that seeped into his mouth. "You are so going down for this, faggot!"  
  
Relena pulled at her boyfriend's arm. "Heero...he's not worth it..."  
  
"Let him run to the Dean. I don't give a fuck." Heero released him; Kyle covered his nose, glaring at them. "He's had that coming for four years."  
  
Just then, Mr. Berardis walked by. "Red's a good color on you, Mr. Longheim." He pulled the boy to his feet. "You should have the nurse take a look at this."  
  
"Did you see what he did, Mr. Berardis?" Kyle looked back at his friends who had been stunned into silence. "Everyone saw him hit..."  
  
"Sorry." The Biology teacher shrugged. "I wasn't looking." He glanced around the courtyard, raising his voice. "And I'm pretty sure no one else was either." He led the bleeding football player towards the nurses' office.   
  
After they left, it took several long minutes for the student witnesses to settle back into their lunchtime routine. Heero looked down at the grass. "I'm sorry, Relena. I should have waited to do that."  
  
Relena shook her head. "I was wrong. He got what he was asking for." She cupped his face with her cool palms. "Nice right hook, by the way."   
  
Heero managed a weak smile through his lingering anger. "My hand hurts."   
  
She touched her forehead to his. "I bet it does." A moment passed before she reached for her bottled water. "Hold this to it for awhile." Heero pressed the bottle against his knuckles. "Will you be able to lift me at dress rehearsal tonight?"  
  
"I can lift you anytime," he assured her, sealing his words with a kiss.   
  
****  
  
"Duo?" Relena entered the Green Room ten minutes before the curtain was set to rise on the final dress rehearsal after a ten minute search for the braided dancer. "Are you in here?"  
  
In full costume, holding his paper mache head with its larger-than-life villainous features, Duo stood up from one couch. "Hey princess," he greeted her in a numb voice. "You look really great."  
  
She glanced down at her snow white glittered costume. "Duo...they're calling ten minute places, you know."  
  
"I know. I was just..." Duo sighed. "Taking a minute. That'll give me nine to get into places."  
  
"Are you all right?" When he didn't reply, she pressed on. "Is it Hilde?" He looked away, confirming her suspicion. "I know it should be her in this costume, but..."  
  
Duo cut her off. "Don't think that, princess. If you believe in fate at all, things end up the way they do for a reason. In the grand scheme of things, this was your part all along."  
  
"I still think there might have been a mix-up with the fates up there." She approached him. "Part of me will be dancing for her tomorrow night."  
  
"Dance for yourself," Duo replied, firmly. "That's the only reason to dance at all. Hilde made her choices and she doesn't deserve your attention while you're on stage. Go out there and dance for Relena Dorlian. Soar, but not because Hilde can't. Just because you can."   
  
Relena quickly kissed his cheek. "Are you going to be all right?"  
  
He pulled on the head. "I'm going to be better than all right," he said, his words muffled. "I'm going to be evil." He struck a pose before running on exaggerated light feet to the door. "See you at the pond, little swan lady."   
  
****  
  
The curtains fell as Prince Siegfried drowned in the waters of his swan princesses lake. As soon as the lights went down, Heero stopped floundering behind the row of foam waves. Relena was standing in the wings, watching him with a smile on her face.   
  
"Places for the curtain call! C'mon...just like we discussed the other day." the stage manager whispered loudly. Heero jogged off the stage as the long row of identical corps members ran on.   
  
Relena reached for his hand. "Almost too convincing," she said into his ear. "I was all set to throw you a life preserver."   
  
Ignoring the sweat that dotted his forehead from the exertion of dancing and the strong lights, Heero kissed her full on the lips. "Wait until you see how I drown tomorrow night."  
  
"Relena...Heero...go!"   
  
Taking her hand, Heero led her in a light "ballet run" to the center of the stage in front of the corps and the other minor principals, including Duo. They held hands as he bowed and she curtsied. After a moment, Heero stepped back to let Relena take a solo curtsy. Clasping hands again, they bowed in time with the entire cast before the curtain began falling again.   
  
It rose a minute later. Treize was standing on the stage, the entire audience still in the dark to the people on stage, due to the lighting hitting them. "Congratulations," he told them. "There were enough mistakes to ensure a fabulous performance tomorrow night, but not enough to send me on a job search." There was polite laughter, but mostly just relief, from the dancers. "Make sure that your costumes are returned to wardrobe and remember, you are all to be back here at *exactly* six o'clock tomorrow night for warm-up. No exceptions if you want to perform at all. Get a good night's sleep. You're going to need it." Assuming he was finished, the cast began to move off the stage. "Wait a minute. Mr. Yuy...meet me in my office upstairs as soon as you're out of costume."  
  
As they walked towards the dressing rooms, hand in hand, Relena puzzled over this. "I wonder what he wants."   
  
"Maybe I did something so stupid that he couldn't point it out in front of the cast for fear of embarrassing me."  
  
Relena smiled. "I don't think Treize would have any qualms about that. Plus, as far as I could see, you didn't make any mistakes tonight."   
  
"Then, I have no idea." Heero held the girl's dressing room door open for her. "Wait..." He closed it before she could go in. "Are you going straight home after this?"  
  
"I don't want to." She smoothed down the stiff tulle of her skirt. "He might be there."  
  
Heero reached out to touch the feathered band set into her hair. "Come to my place. My father left for Hong Kong on business this morning."   
  
"He's not coming to the workshop?!"  
  
"I don't want him there." He pulled her into his arms. "Spend the night with me."   
  
Relena licked her lips. "All right. I'll meet you upstairs?"  
  
Heero nodded and kissed her again. "Take your time. You know how Treize can ramble on."  
  
"Hey!" One of the corps members came up behind them. "Are you going to let any of us in there to change, Heero?"  
  
He held the door open and gestured her and Relena in. His girlfriend let the other girl go first and took the extra time to give him another kiss. "See you in a little while."   
  
It only took twenty minutes for Heero to shower and change into his street clothes. Running his fingers through his wet hair, he took the elevator up from the stage level to the offices above the rehearsal studios. Treize's office was at the end of the hall, across the way from Millardo's private suite. Heero knocked on the door lightly.   
  
"Come in, Mr. Yuy."  
  
Treize wasn't alone in the room. A man and a woman sat in the plush chairs in front of his desk. Treize indicated for him to close the door. "Don't look so panicked, Mr. Yuy. You haven't done anything wrong."  
  
"I really wasn't worried," Heero replied.  
  
"You see? Confidence." Treize smiled at his guests. "At his very core, a true dancer needs only to believe that he is the best and he will be." Heero folded his arms over his leather jacket and waited for Treize to go on. "Mr. Yuy, I want you to meet two people who caught the dress rehearsal tonight. They were most impressed." He stood and came around the desk. "Now, usually we don't open up to company scouts until the actual workshop, but Mrs. Cunningham came all the way from San Francisco to see tomorrow's performance and unfortunately she has to get back there as soon as possible. I agreed to let her watch tonight instead. Heero Yuy, Marissa Cunningham of the San Francisco Ballet."  
  
The woman smiled at him. "You were wonderful, Heero. May I call you Heero?"  
  
He nodded. "I'm not sure this is entirely fair to the other guys in the cast..."  
  
Treize ignored him. "And when he heard that his main competitor in America was getting to see the workshop early, Mr. Chevalier insisted that he be allowed to as well, and I obviously couldn't say no. Heero Yuy, Jean-Paul Chevalier of..."  
  
He never got finish his introduction. For the second time that day, Heero's fist flew towards someone's face, impacting with all the force of an eighteen year old's rage. Jean-Paul doubled over, clutching at his jaw.   
  
"Heero!" It was the first time Treize had ever called him by his first name. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?!"  
  
Heero started for Jean-Paul again, but the ballet instructor held him back. "You stay away from her," he shouted to the injured French man. "Get the hell out of her house and leave her alone! Or I'll kill you. I swear it."  
  
Jean-Paul straightened up, murder in his eyes. "Kushrenada," he began in his thick accent. "This is absolute outrage, it is!"  
  
"I agree." Marissa Cunningham held a hand to her throat in shock. "I've never seen such abominable behavior. To attack with provocation..."  
  
The door to Treize's door burst open. "What's going on in here?" Millardo demanded. "I heard shouting."  
  
"This...this boy...attacked me and threatened my life!" Jean-Paul shouted, pointing an accusing finger at Heero.   
  
Millardo looked at the boy. "Is this true, Heero?"  
  
"Yes, it is." Heero balled up his aching fist. "And I'll do it again if he ever even thinks about Relena again."   
  
"What does Relena have to do with this?"  
  
Jean-Paul cried out; it was an obvious distraction tactic. Unfortunately, it was only obvious to Heero. "I believe he has broken my face! I demand that your security, your police, the French embassy, the...the FBI, the..."  
  
Millardo cut him off. "I don't think it's a matter of national security." He looked at Heero. "Perhaps if you apologize to Mr. Chevalier."  
  
"When hell freezes over," Heero replied evenly. "And if you knew what I know, more than just his jaw would ache."   
  
"Are you not going to arrest him?" Jean-Paul demanded.   
  
Millardo rubbed his temple. "I don't exactly have the authority. But..." He exchanged a look with Treize. "If you insist on pressing charges..."  
  
"I do," the French man nodded emphatically.  
  
"Then I guess I have no choice but to call the police. Heero..." The company director lifted his shoulders. "I'm sorry."   
  
"I'm not." Heero sat in one of the abandoned chairs. "I'd do it again in a second."   
  
Treize shook his head. "Fuck. You couldn't wait until after the workshop to develop violent tendencies, Yuy?"  
  
Jean-Paul rubbed his swelling jaw. "I demand..."  
  
"Save it," Millardo snapped. "You'll get to press your charges, so just go to my office and wait for the police." The French man backed out of the office, glaring at Yuy with triumph in his eyes. He was followed by Treize and the scout from San Francisco.   
  
Millardo cursed softly after they were gone. "Are you going to tell me what Relena does have to do with all of this?" Heero crossed his arms. It was not his secret to tell. "Fine. Maybe I'll be able to get it out of her. Is she still downstairs changing?"   
  
"Probably," Heero finally replied. "She's waiting for me to take her to my..." He stopped suddenly, realizing to whom he was speaking.  
  
"Well, forgive me, but I'm not so sorry you'll be spending the evening at the precinct, then." Millardo started for the door. "I bet you have a good reason for doing this, though. I've actually wanted to pop that guy one since he came into my house. Still...this is going to be one sticky mess you've gotten us into, Yuy."   
  
Heero closed his eyes. "Tell Relena...tell her I'm sorry."   
  
Millardo sighed. "One fucking sticky mess." He closed the door, locking Heero into the office. Treize was waiting for him in the hallway.   
  
"What about the workshop?" he asked.  
  
"We'll get him out on bail before then," Millardo replied.  
  
"But can you accept a company member with an arrest record?"  
  
Millardo lifted his shoulders. "I've never had to wonder before."   
  
"I'd start wondering," Treize replied. "He might just be a loose cannon. And do you really want a loose cannon representing the company?" There was a pause. "I'll deal with all of this. You can head home."  
  
"Thanks." Millardo started down the hall. "Make sure they take care of him. And keep an eye on that French idiot. I don't trust him."   
  
Treize snorted. "It would seem our lead dancer doesn't either."   
  
"I'm sure he has his reasons," Millardo called back. To himself he added, "And I intend to find out what they are."  
  
****  
  
To Be Continued 


	21. Rescue me

Disclaimer: Standard, the usual, same old, same old.  
  
Author's Notes: Thank you all very much for your amazing support. This chapter is a little short, but I wanted to get it out for yall because I'm not sure how updating is going to go now that classes have started. I'm taking two advanced writing workshops and two heavy literature classes so I can graduate in December, and finding time to spend on my fan fic might become difficult. I won't give up on any story by any means, but I refuse to sacrifice quality just to get something out. Updates might lag, but the story won't. You have my word. Thanks for hanging in there with me.  
  
****  
  
To Dance Beneath the Diamond Sky  
by Kristen Elizabeth  
  
****  
  
"Does this stuff ever come off?"   
  
Heero's question bounced off the cement blocks that surrounded him. There was no one sharing the cramped holding cell who could answer it for him. With a sigh, he lowered his hands with their ink-stained fingers down to his sides. It had to come off. In less than twenty-four hours he was set to dance in front of a couple thousand people. Prince Siegfried could not bear any traces of having been arrested, booked and finger-printed by the NYPD.  
  
He leaned back against one cold wall. It was all worth it to protect her. Having a criminal record, jeopardizing his career...he hadn't been lying when he had said he'd do it all again. Alerting the world to the French bastard's treatment of Relena was enough of a reward to make up for any punishment. Seeing the look on his face upon being hit had just been icing on the cake.  
  
The problem now was that he couldn't protect Relena from behind bars. And if the man got it in his head to take his anger at Heero out on her... He balled up his fist. "Please be safe," he said out loud. "Don't let him..."  
  
"Heero Yuy." Heero's fingers relaxed as the guard who had put him in the cell an hour earlier approached his cell. Producing a ring of keys, he unlocked the door. "Come on. Your bail's been made."   
  
"Who..." Heero blinked as a very familiar face appeared behind the guard. "Relena." He moved for the door.   
  
The guard shook his head as the two teenagers embraced. "Take it somewhere else," he told them, closing the door of the now-empty cell. "You can get your things back from the front desk, Yuy, and then get going."   
  
As the sour man moved off, Relena pulled back slightly. "Heero, what happened?"   
  
"I hit him," he told her with great simplicity.   
  
"Oh Heero..." The faintest strains of worry and exasperation flittered across her pretty features. "I know that. Millardo told me that much. I just don't understand why you're here."  
  
Heero lifted his shoulders. "I guess he didn't like it."   
  
"Please don't joke. This could affect your entire future!"  
  
"I really can't worry about that right now," Heero replied, nonchalantly. "I'm much more occupied keeping you safe from him."   
  
Relena looked up into the stormy eyes she had fallen so in love with. "You can't protect me from everything, Heero."   
  
"I can try."   
  
A moment passed. "I love you." Her cool hand cupped his cheek as her lips brushed across his. "How's your hand feeling, slugger?"  
  
He held one up. "Stained."   
  
Relena smiled softly. "A little water and...um...turpentine should take care of that."   
  
"Both things I have at my place." Heero hesitated. "Do you have a problem sleeping with a man who has a criminal record?"  
  
"Are you kidding?" Her hand drifted down to settle on his muscled chest. "Girls can't resist a bad boy." The light tone left her voice. "And I can't go home. I'm not sure what I might do if I saw him now. But it wouldn't be good."   
  
He covered her fingers with his inky ones. "Stay away from him, Relena. He'll be there tomorrow..." A quick glance at the clock told him it was a good while past twelve a.m. "....tonight and he'll try to intimidate us. We can't let him. I don't care what he tries to do to me. I couldn't give a damn. But if I ever see him near you...he'll be lucky to get away with a just broken nose."   
  
A little shiver ran down her spine. There was so much intensity in his words. "Let's get out of here," she whispered. "I think we both need sleep."   
  
But sleep was the last thing on either of their minds when they made it back to Heero's empty apartment half an hour later. Relena couldn't remember many of the details; the minutes ran together, molding into one long moment of ecstasy. Being in Heero's arms, feeling the warm pressure of his body over hers, his breath warm against her throat, his body hard between her thighs...it was pleasure beyond comprehension.   
  
She ran her hands up and down his sweat-kissed body as he regained control over himself. Her own chest still rose and fell underneath him. Unwrapping her legs from around his waist, Relena looked up at the ceiling of Heero's bedroom. She wanted to stay in the moment; it only seemed right that she be able to, seeing as how their bodies were still joined.   
  
But reality hung in the background of her thoughts. Now that her defenses were down, she couldn't help but think back over the evening's events. And worry about what was yet to come.   
  
Millardo had, at first, refused to tell Relena what was going on upstairs in the company's offices...or why there was a police car arriving at the stage door as he ushered her into the limousine. It was only when they arrived back at the apartment and she had threatened to scream that he let everything slip.   
  
Then he had asked the question she had not been able to answer. *Where do you fit into it all, Relena?* As Heero's breathing slowed back to normal, Relena bit her lip in frustration and anger. She was caught between the proverbial rock and the hard place. Coming out against Jean-Paul could help Heero's case. At the same time, she had no more proof to back up her claims than she had before.   
  
Heero lifted his head from the gentle curve of her neck. "I love you, Relena," he whispered, his eyes hooded with lingering pleasure.   
  
Tears spilled down her temples, wetting her tangled hair and his pillow. After he gently withdrew from her body, Heero kissed her softly and got up to dispose of the obligatory condom. When he returned from his bathroom a moment later, he slid back into bed and reached for her. Relena wrapped her arms around her lover, hugging him with a sudden urgency. No words were necessary  
  
A smile on his gorgeous face, Heero slipped into sleep a few minutes later. Relena let her fingers play along the smooth flesh of his inner arm. He was so strong; he could lift her above his head without breaking a sweat. His hands had punched two men in a single day for her. Yet, when the same arms and hands held her, they were nothing but gentle and loving.   
  
Protecting her was first on his agenda. What he didn't realize was that protecting him was at the top of hers.   
  
Just as she had the first time they made love, Relena pulled herself away from the warmth of his bed as he slept and headed back home.  
  
****  
  
Millardo paced back and forth across the thick oriental rug that stretched underneath the four-poster bed he shared with Lucrezia. She was curled up within its burgandy sheets, one hand propping up her head, the other covering her flat belly. "What are you going to do?" she asked in her gentle way.   
  
He shook his head. "I don't really have a choice. The idiot knows too many people. And those people are the ones who keep the company in financial security. If he wants to...and I think he wants to...Chevalier could destroy Heero Yuy. And if he's dancing for us, we'd go down, too."   
  
"What if you got him into another company?"  
  
"It'd be the same story. And it would take a hell of a lot of strings being pulled to get him into another company, having a criminal record against Jean-Paul Chevalier." Millardo stopped short. "The kid deserves to make the company, Lu. But I can't run the risk of endangering it just for him. Is that wrong?"  
  
She licked her lower lip, thinking it over. "You always have the company's best interest at heart, baby. But in this case...I think you should throw caution to the wind. Heero does deserve this. He's worked so hard for so long to get it. I don't think that something this...this trivial should end it all."  
  
"If I only I could figure out what it was all about!" His jaw grew tight. "Yuy wouldn't say anything. Relena wouldn't say anything. Chevalier was too busy calling the French embassy. All I know is that something really big is going on and if no one talks about it, I'll lose a future cavalier for my company and he'll lose his entire career before it even gets started."  
  
She lowered her head to the pillow that bore the wonderful scent of her fiancee's cologne. "If it's meant to, it will all come out."   
  
Millardo sighed. "I wish I could just leave it at that, Lu, but it's obviously too big to do that. I have to get to the bottom of it all. I have to..."   
  
"Millardo!" Lucrezia cried out his name, her voice heavy with sudden pain and fright. The hand that had simply rested on her belly now clutched it. "Something's wrong. The baby..." She tried to sit up, but the hot cramping made her shrivel back up underneath the covers. "It hurts."   
  
****  
  
Relena let herself into the apartment with slow, deliberate motions. Inserting the key, turning the lock, pushing the door open. Simple movements, dampened by her solemn mood. She was not there to sleep, or bathe or even to grab a few things before rushing back to her lover's bed. She was there for one purpose and one purpose only.   
  
Fortunately, the one purpose was sitting in the parlor, staring at a fire that seemed out of place in mid-spring, sipping a glass of wine and waiting for her.   
  
"Where have you been, ma cher?"  
  
Relena walked into the room and set down her bag onto the Victorian love seat. Her back was ram-rod straight, her chin level as she replied in French without answering at all. "What do you want from me?"   
  
Jean-Paul stood up and turned around to face her. The larger couch stood between them like a little wall, but Relena felt no protection from it. He studied her for a moment before looking back at his half-full glass. "The best wine in the world cannot hope to taste better than your lips." With one fluid motion, he threw his drink into the fireplace, creating a surge of heat and light. "And you give them to another."   
  
"They've never been for you." Relena bit the inside of her cheek to combat her tears of fright. He was truly and completely insane. "And they never will be." Jean-Paul made a motion towards her, but she held up one hand. "Come any nearer, and I'll scream for my brother."   
  
"Do it until your throat is raw, cher." The French man smiled wickedly. "He is not here."  
  
Cold fear pooled around her heart, seizing it in blind panic. "Where is he?" Relena demanded. Where was her only lifeline?  
  
Jean-Paul sidestepped the question as gracefully as he bypassed the couch between them. "The one who hit me, yes? He is the man you prefer to me?" He snorted. "Hardly a man. Only a boy. A boy with too hot a temper." Reaching out, his fingers brushed her stony cheek. "I will take care of him."   
  
"Leave him alone," Relena said, barely able to keep her voice steady. "I'm asking you....to drop the charges against him."   
  
"Why would I do that, ma cher?"  
  
"Because I asked you to?" Her eyes darted to the right, towards the rest of the house. "Where is Millardo?"  
  
"If I were to let the boy go free..." Jean-Paul let his slick gaze take a long stroll down the length of her slender body. "...would you come to me with open arms?"   
  
Relena swallowed. "I'm not sure I under..."  
  
"Do not play games, cherie," he snapped. Quickly, he regained composure. "I will forget all about my poor face that your Heero hurt, if you will let me have you. All of you."   
  
Long minutes of silence passed, but in her mind, a memory surfaced unbidden. The image of Heero on her first day in the ballet class. So focused...cold...distant. So unlike the Heero whose arms she had just left. The many sides of him...she would protect them all no matter what. Finally, Relena made her choice.   
  
"Deal."   
  
****  
  
To Be Continued 


	22. Everything I do

Disclaimer: Oh, the same old, same old.  
  
Author's Notes: A short chapter, but I hope a good one. The response to the last chapter...woah. Wow. It really made me happy to see that yall are into the story...and really, really adament about certain things;) All I can say is, I hope you keep reading no matter what happens, 'cause I promise to do my best to make it worth your while. Thank you!!   
  
Dedication: For Rose, another online friend come to life;)  
  
****  
  
To Dance Beneath the Diamond Sky  
by Kristen Elizabeth  
  
****  
  
"To be fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love." -Jane Austen  
  
"You can dance anywhere, even if only in your heart." -Unknown  
  
****  
  
"I feel so silly."   
  
"Don't you dare." Millardo reached into his pants pocket for the keys to his apartment. "The doctor said himself that we were totally right to come right to the emergency room."  
  
As he opened the front door, Lucrezia sighed and caressed her flat belly. "Yes, but all that fuss and drama just for a little intestinal virus? I thought I was....miscarrying or something."  
  
"I know," he replied, pausing. "I was so scared, Lu."   
  
She wound her arms around one of his, clinging to his side. "I don't think I realized how much I want this baby until I thought I was going to lose it."   
  
Millardo kissed the soft top of her head. "Come on. You need fluids and sleep to get rid of this thing."   
  
They entered the apartment together. It was quiet, but then the sun hadn't even started to show over the shortest buildings in the skyline. Most of the household wouldn't be up for several hours. The door to his mother's room was open a crack; as they passed by, Millardo peeked in.   
  
Helen was passed out on her bed, snoring lightly. An empty highball glass lay next to her on the expensive comforter. Shaking his head, Millardo reached out and shut the door all the way.   
  
Relena's bedroom door was closed, but he decided against peeking inside to check on his sister. She had gone to bail Heero Yuy out of jail the night before and he hadn't heard from her since. As much as it pained him to admit it, she was probably spending the night with him.   
  
Lucrezia smiled up at him. "She probably is with Heero," she said, reading his mind as only she could. "And if so, bless them both."   
  
"She's only eighteen," he scowled.   
  
"And she's in love," Lucrezia reminded him. "Don't worry about Relena." Reaching their own bedroom, she went ahead of Millardo, still holding his hand. "She's smart and she can take care of herself."   
  
****  
  
A mere few blocks away, warm beams of morning sun streaming through his window roused Heero out of a dreamless sleep. Even before his eyes opened, he rolled to his right, fully expecting to come up against the warmth of Relena's body.   
  
But all his face pressed into was empty space. His eyes opened. The other pillow on his bed bore the impression of her head as though she had slept there, but the cold temperature of the sheets told him that she had left a long time ago. Heero rolled back over and let out a sigh.   
  
She had left in the middle of the night again. It being the morning of what would be the most important day of their careers thus far, he could understand her reasons for going. Hopefully in the near future, she would stay the whole night. He had rather been looking forward to kissing a sleepy, rumpled Relena awake.   
  
With a groan, Heero rolled out of bed and flexed his right hand. It was still sore, but nothing appeared broken or bruised. A good thing, considering that in twelve hours he would have to carry Relena around over his head.   
  
After a long visit to his bathroom to finally get rid of the ink stains on the tips of his fingers, Heero wandered into the kitchen in search of breakfast. There was no point in going to school; he'd never be able to concentrate with the workshop looming over him all day.   
  
He dug up some leftover pizza and popped it into the microwave. While it was warming, Heero reached for the phone and dialed her number. If he couldn't wake her up with kisses, he could at least do it with a phone call.   
  
"Hello?" a small voice answered.  
  
"Relena? It's me. Heero."  
  
"Oh...Heero." There was a pause. "Hi."  
  
"Hi," he repeated. "You left last night."  
  
"Yeah..." She coughed. "I'm sorry."  
  
"It's all right. I just...I miss you." The microwave beeped and he pulled open the little door to retrieve his breakfast. "How did you sleep last night?"  
  
"How did I...?" On the other end, Relena forced a chuckle. "As well as can be expected."  
  
"Are you nervous?" He frowned at his pizza; the edges had turned out harder than rocks.   
  
She hesitated. "A little. I'm not going to class today. Just to warn you."  
  
"I'm not either. Probably no one is." Heero took a bite and chewed for a moment. "We could spend the day together. Warming up. Or whatever."  
  
"That sounds...really nice." It might have been his imagination, but her voice wavered as though she were fighting back tears. "But I think I'm going to stay here. Get some more sleep and try to stay calm. You know."  
  
"Oh. Actually...that's okay. I think I need to see about a lawyer today, anyway." Heero set down the pizza slice. "Relena, are you all right? You sound so...sad."   
  
"I'm not sad, Heero. I'm just...it was a long day yesterday. I think I'm still taking it all in."   
  
"It was a weird day. But the night made up for it."   
  
There was a pause. "I love you, Heero."   
  
He blinked. "I love you, too, Relena." His throat stuck for a moment. "You have no idea...how much you've changed my life. I didn't even realize it until I woke up this morning. And I *needed* to see you. Needed to hear your voice. I can't explain it and I might even be crazy, but I think I'm supposed to feel this way forever."   
  
"You're not crazy," Relena whispered. "I feel the same way. No matter what happens at this workshop...who gets in the company or whatever...I want to be with you for the rest of my life. I mean, it might not work out that way, but that's what I want. I just wanted....wanted you to know that. Because..." For the first time since the conversation had begun, he could hear the usual joy creep back into her voice. "I think we can do it now. Nothing is standing in our way. I've made sure of that."  
  
Her words were cryptic, but Heero didn't linger on them. "I want that, too," he replied, honestly. "The way I see it, we're going to do so well tonight, that we'll be able to hand-pick any company in the world. And we'll just pick one together." He shook his head. The words were from his mouth, but only six months earlier, he would have sworn they could never have come from him. She had rocked his world in more ways than one.   
  
"So," he continued. "Rest up. I'll see you at six at the theatre?"  
  
"I'll be there. The one in the white feathers." After a moment, Relena laughed softly. "I'm not even nervous anymore, Heero."   
  
He smiled, tossing the hard part of his breakfast into the trash can. "Neither am I. Bye, Relena."   
  
"Bye," she said, just before the line went silent. Heero hung up the phone and with the smile lingering on his face, went to take a quick shower.   
  
But in her room, Relena still held the receiver to her ear. Her hand trembled slightly when she finally set it back into its cradle. It lingered on the phone for a minute before dropping down to the object lying next to it on the lace cover of the night stand.   
  
She picked up the chopping knife and ran a sharp eye up the clean, silver edge. Light reflected off the very tip; Relena smiled to herself.   
  
****  
  
Although he would have liked to have ordered room service and spent the morning in bed with Quatre, feeding him benigets and cafe au lait, Trowa tried to match his lover's enthusiasm as they took the elevator down through the Plaza at the ungodly hour of seven a.m. After reading every travel book he could get his hands on back in Paris, Quatre had gotten it into his mind that he wanted an authentic New York breakfast at least one of their days in the city.   
  
And according to his books, there was only one place for that. Zabar's.   
  
While the idea of smoked fish and cream cheese for breakfast didn't appeal to Trowa, he wasn't about to let Quatre down. When they stepped off the elevator into the Plaza's grand lobby holding hands, they started for the street entrance where they could catch a cab. It wouldn't take much English to communicate the word "Zabar's," Trowa figured.   
  
Quatre's fingers squeezed his. "Look, love." With his free hand, he pointed to a small cluster of chairs in the far corner. "Is that...?" His handsome features darkened. "It is. It is him."  
  
"Who, Little One?" Trowa followed the other boy's gaze, eventually settling onto a man seated facing them, reading a newspaper. Several pieces of luggage rested around his feet; he appeared to be waiting for a room. "Is it..."  
  
"Jean-Paul," Quatre spit the words out of his mouth. "What is he doing here?"   
  
Trowa shook his head. "I do not know. Perhaps Relena's brother asked him to leave."   
  
"That could mean that our Relena was able to tell the horrible thing that happened to her." His lover's eyes shone. "Finally."  
  
The taller boy said nothing. He didn't want to upset his boyfriend, but he had the strangest feeling that something much darker had prompted Jean-Paul to pack his things and move out of Millardo Peacecraft's apartment. When the older man across the room looked up from his paper to check the ornate clock mounted onto one wall, Trowa caught a brief glimpse of his eyes. Even from so far away, the look sent a chill down his spine.   
  
They were the eyes of an animal who had been wounded, but after his wounds were licked and healed, would be back with a vengeance.   
  
Trowa just hoped that whoever had struck against him hadn't let their guard down yet.   
  
****  
  
To Be Continued 


	23. For you, I will

Disclaimer: The usual stuff.  
  
Author's Notes: I know some of you...okay, most of you were confused in the last chapter. Don't worry. I had hoped you'd be;) Enjoy this next chapter, and thank you for all your support and encouragement!  
  
****  
  
To Dance Beneath the Diamond Sky  
by Kristen Elizabeth  
  
****  
  
"Something arrived in the mail for you yesterday."  
  
Duo glanced up from his huge brunch of pancakes, ham and fresh fruit to look at his father across the dining room table. He swallowed a mouthful, fighting the rising excitement in his throat. "Is it from..." he started.  
  
Robert gently cut off his son. "It's not from her."  
  
"Oh." With a sigh, Duo speared a piece of pineapple. Suddenly, he had to wonder if he could choke down anymore of the pre-workshop feast his mother had spent so much time making for him. Wanting to hear from Hilde, needing to see her face, feel her lips against his....he was starving not for food, but for her.   
  
Sarah lowered her coffee cup. "Show him, Robert."   
  
"We haven't opened it yet..." Duo's father reached into the pocket of his suit coat and pulled out a long envelope. "But both your mother and I have a good feeling."   
  
Duo accepted the letter without a hint of enthusiasm. He instinctively glanced at the return address. New York University...   
  
His fork hit his plate with a metallic clank. "Oh shit," he breathed. The NYU application. He could barely remember filling it out and sending it off at the start of the school year. It had mostly been to get his school's guidance counselor off his back. Apparently, ballet was not a viable career choice....or at least it wouldn't look good on the old woman's track record if she didn't try to get absolutely everyone into a four-year university.   
  
He tore into the letter and fumbled to unfold it. Violet eyes scanned the first few lines. A moment later, Duo lowered the sheet of paper and looked at his parents. They were both quiet, watching him. Waiting.   
  
"Well?" Sarah finally asked, twisting her gingham napkin.   
  
"I got in."   
  
"Oh sweetie!!" His mother pushed her chair back; her arms enfolded her only child. "I'm so proud of you!! We both are."  
  
Robert nodded. "NYU. Quite an achievement." The smile on his gently aged face was wide as he sipped his coffee.   
  
"Mom...Dad." Duo shook his head, replacing the letter in its envelope. "We've talked about this. I don't want to go to college."   
  
"We know that, Duo." Sarah brushed her son's bangs off his forehead. "Your father and I want you to do whatever makes you happy. But...now that you know you can do it....do more than *just* dance....will you at least consider it?"   
  
Duo looked down at his plate. "Don't you mean now that I don't have Hilde holding me down?"  
  
"Duo, don't put words in your mother's mouth."   
  
He looked up at her with apology in his eyes. "Sorry, Mom. Tell you what. Can I just get through the workshop tonight? See what kind of offers I get, and *then* I'll make my decision. Okay?"  
  
His parents exchanged a look. "It only seems fair," Robert finally said. "After the workshop then."  
  
Duo went back to his food, the acceptance letter tucked underneath the corner of his mother's hand-painted plate. So much was going through his mind that he forgot one tiny little thing.   
  
Namely who had applied to NYU with him.   
  
****  
  
By the time Heero got through talking to his lawyer, a man in the same firm that handled his trust fund, it was close to five in the afternoon. It had been a long day dancing around the lawyer's questions about his reasons behind attacking the French man. According to James McMillian, Esq., if Heero didn't provide some sort of defense, his chances of fines, probation, or even prison time looked good.   
  
It didn't sway him, though. The secrets were Relena's; he would protect them as long as he protected her.   
  
He took a cab back home, giving him just enough time to pack up a few things before heading back to the theatre. In his bedroom, as he grabbed his shoes, he paused for a minute at his bed, still rumpled from the previous night. Heero reached out and picked up the photograph of his mother.   
  
"Will you be watching tonight?" he asked her. She smiled back at him as he put her picture back down. "I hope so."  
  
Arriving at the theatre only fifteen minutes before the call time, Heero was immediately approached by three or four corps members in various states of dress. All were eager to hear about his alleged arrest the night before. He brushed past his classmates with barely a word, heading for the dressing rooms.   
  
"Yuy!" As soon as he strode into the boys locker room and heard Duo Maxwell's voice, Heero turned around and started back out. "Hey...wait!" Completely without modesty in only a pair of thick-woven, coal-black tights, the braided dancer caught up with him just before he escaped out the door. "Dude...did you really get arrested?"   
  
Heero readjusted his grip on his bag, still holding the locker room door open with the other. "It's a long story."   
  
"You did, didn't you?" Duo shook his head. "Damn. Well, I guess you had a pretty good reason for whatever it was you did."   
  
"Why do you say that?"   
  
"Cause..." The other dancer lifted his bare shoulders. "You don't do anything for nothing."   
  
"He's right about that." The soft, feminine voice ejected into the conversation had both boys turning their heads towards the hallway. Relena stood a few feet away, her arms casually folded over her grey warm-up leotard. "Hi," she continued, almost shyly.   
  
As Heero moved towards her, Duo made a great show of attempting to cover his exposed chest...and the generous bulge in his tights. "I'm just...so embarrassed, princess!"  
  
Relena flashed an all too brief smile. "It's all right, Duo. I wasn't really looking." Her eyes locked with Heero's as he pulled her into his arms. Before she could say anything, his mouth captured hers in a deep kiss.   
  
"And now I'm a third wheel." Duo watched the couple for another second before releasing a breathless sigh. Silently, he excused himself and disappeared back into the locker room.   
  
"Heero...." Relena twisted her lips away from his. Her cheek rested on his arm as she caught her breath. "I need to talk to you about something."   
  
He kissed her sweet-smelling hair. "What is it?"   
  
"Last night...after I left your place..." She closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, her thick lashes were wet. "I went home. I...he was there. Waiting for me."  
  
She could feel every muscle in his body tense up instantly. "Relena." He pushed her back a bit to look at her face. His eyes were concerned, but with a hint of frost at the very centers. "Did he hurt you? Tell me...if he touched you, I'll..."  
  
"I'm fine, Heero. Honestly." Relena's hand cupped his cheek before slipping down to his collarbone. "He didn't hurt me."  
  
Heero shook his head. "You shouldn't have talked to him, Relena. I can fight him, but only if I know that you're safe. And you're not safe if you're anywhere near the bastard."  
  
"I can't sit by and watch him ruin your life because I didn't have the guts to stay in Paris and fight back. I ran to America and I got you involved and it shouldn't have happened!" Relena wiped at her moist cheeks. "So...I asked him to drop the charges against you."  
  
"Relena..."  
  
"Hear me out." She licked her lips, tasting the salt of her tears. "He said that he would."  
  
Heero blinked. "What did he ask for in return?"   
  
"Just one thing," Relena whispered. Her gaze lowered to the floor.   
  
"I should have killed him," Heero said a long minute later. His fists balled up; his frame shook with rage. "How fucked up is he to think that..."   
  
"Mr. Yuy." He was interrupted by the sudden appearance of their dance instructor. Treize clapped a hand onto Heero's strong shoulder. "You're a damn lucky man."   
  
Still caught up in his anger and outrage, a scowl descended onto Heero's brow. "What?"  
  
"Chevalier? Dropping the charges?" The older man chuckled. "Saved everyone's asses, I'll tell you that. Next time you get it into your head to hit someone, pick a man with his fingers in fewer pies, please." He looked at his prima ballerina for the evening. "Shouldn't you both be warming up?"  
  
Relena delicately cleared her throat. "We were just about to. Thanks." Nodding, Treize moved off down the hall. Her attention returned to Heero. "It's not..."  
  
"I don't believe it." He shook his head. "I don't fucking believe that you..."  
  
"I didn't," Relena said. "Heero. Heero, look at me."   
  
His horrified gaze met hers. "You let him....after we..."  
  
"We're really going to have to work on this trust thing," she snapped. "I didn't sleep with Jean-Paul. I won't say that I didn't consider it for the briefest second in a crazy moment when all I could picture was you losing absolutely everything you've worked for since you were six years old just to protect me. Me, who can't even stand up for myself against my alcoholic mother! I didn't need to think about it any further." She paused. "I had a plan. And it worked."   
  
Heero raked his fingers through his hair. "Relena...it's not trust. I just..." He stopped. "I'm sorry."  
  
"I'm not sure what I would have believed a few minutes ago if I had been you, Heero." Her expression softened. "Let's just forget about it."   
  
He nodded, but then frowned. "Wait. If you didn't accept his terms...why am I suddenly out of hot water?"  
  
Relena hesitated a moment before swinging her leather bag off her back. She reached into it and pulled out a seven-inch chopping knife.   
  
"What the fuck are you doing with that?!" Heero hissed, trying to press it back into her bag and out of plain sight.   
  
"I'm tired of running, Heero." Her head swung back and forth, the long, golden strands of her hair brushing across the slopes of her breasts. "I've been his prisoner ever since he held me down on the studio floor back in Paris. He's nearly ruined everything good in my life. Dancing....you..." Relena's chin snapped up; her eyes bored into his. "Oh, don't worry. I'm not going to kill him. If I wanted to kill him, I would have done it last night."   
  
Heero swallowed. "What happened last night, Relena?"   
  
"He actually thought I was just going to jump into his bed," she started a second later. "Like the two times he tried to rape me, I had just been playing hard-to-get or something." Her laughter was short and bitter. "I told him I had to get ready and he believed that, too. While he was waiting...I slipped into bed with this. It was just sitting in the dish drainer, as if it had been put there, just for me."   
  
"Then what did you do?"  
  
Her eyes were glassy as she told the rest of the story. "He came into my bedroom, taking his shirt off as he walked. I had the covers pulled up to my chin with my hand on the knife underneath them. When he started to climb on top of me..." Her throat closed up and her eyes closed again.   
  
"I think I understand." Making sure the knife was tucked away, Heero wrapped her up in his arms. "What did you threaten him with?"  
  
"The truth," Relena replied, her words muffled by his neck. "The whole and nothing but. In an American court." She sniffed. "It helped that I had the knife to his throat the whole time."   
  
Heero held her tighter. "And it worked."  
  
"He packed up and left before the sun rose. And I guess he made the appropriate calls to the police. So, yes. It did."   
  
"Shit, Relena...you could have been so hurt."  
  
"I wasn't," she reminded him.   
  
"And I never would have forgiven myself."   
  
Relena shook her head against his chest. "I couldn't have lived with myself if he had won." She pulled back slightly. "But it's over now. He's out of the picture." Her lovely lips turned up in a pure smile. "We're free."   
  
"We're free," he repeated, holding her face between his hands. After a soft kiss, he released her from his loving grip. "Thank you."   
  
"Why aren't you two warming up?" Dorothy Catalonia cruised down the hall past them, her nose turned all the way up. "You're not so good that you don't have to, you know."   
  
Ignoring her, they kissed again. Finally, Relena drew away. "The nervousness has returned."   
  
"No nervousness." Heero traced her full bottom lip with his index finger. "You're my swan princess. I won't let you fall tonight...or ever."   
  
Relena's tears welled up once more. "I'm so glad I fell in love with you, Heero Yuy."   
  
"And I'm just damn lucky." He smiled, boyish bangs flopping over his forehead. "Nothing standing in our way anymore, Relena."   
  
She started to walk backwards, holding his hand until the last possible second. "Nothing in our way."   
  
****  
  
"Millardo!" After taking a fortifying sip of her Bloody Mary, Helen pulled a pair of diamond earrings from her jewelry box. She had only managed to attach one before she remembered that her son and his fiancee had left for the theatre an hour earlier. She took another long sip of her drink to clear her thoughts.   
  
The noise that had prompted her to call out for her oldest child returned a moment later. Helen blinked and shook her head. Drink in hand, but only one spike-heel shoe on her foot, she started for her bedroom door, searching for the source of the noise in what should have been an empty apartment.   
  
Empty, at least, after Jean-Paul had disappeared during the night. She sighed and drank again. Men were nothing if not fickle.   
  
Helen wandered in the hallway, staggering with her uneven steps. "Miles, is that you? Is the limo ready to take me to the theatre?" Her words were slurred, but in her mind, they sounded perfectly sober.   
  
She rounded the corner into the parlor and came face to face with Jean-Paul. "Oh!" Caught off guard, she dropped her glass. "You bad man. Startling me like that." Her hand tried to slap him playfully, but missed his arm by a mile. "Where have you been?"   
  
He reached out to steady her. "Relena..."  
  
"Yes. The...the workshop." Helen grabbed onto his arms. "We're going to be late."  
  
"Ma petit cher." Jean-Paul's hands moved up to tangle in her carefully coiffed hair. "Belle..."   
  
"My hair, darling. You're mussing it." Helen tried to pull back, but his fingers were too deeply tangled. "Jean-Paul..."  
  
He fisted handfuls of her hair, yanking at her scalp. "Why do you fight me still, cher? You never believe that all I want is to be with you forever."   
  
Relena's mother pushed at his chest, crying out in pain, but he was too strong for her, especially in her drunken state. "What are you doing, Jean-Paul?!"  
  
"Let me be with you!" His face, twisted beyond recognition, descended towards hers. "I will forget everything you have done to me."  
  
"Let me go!" Helen screamed, fear suddenly sobering her up. "You're hurting me!"  
  
Jean-Paul shook his head. "You hurt me more, cher. My Relena...ma belle." He released her hair; his hands clamped around her throat. The diamonds on her necklace dug into her white skin as he tightened his grip. "If I cannot be with you....no man will."   
  
Helen Estelle Peacecraft Dorlian would never get to see her only daughter dance the part she had always dreamed she would. A few minutes later, her lifeless body fell to the oriental carpet alongside her Bloody Mary glass. As she lay there, staring up at the ceiling without seeing, and her daughter slipped into her feathered costume across town, her murderer hailed a cab and directed it towards Lincoln Center.   
  
****  
  
To Be Continued 


	24. Watch me shine

Disclaimer: All that usual stuff.  
  
Author's Notes: Sorry for the delay. School hard. As for the new policy towards NC-17's which several people have wrote to me about, asking what I'm going to do about it. For now, not much. Most of my stories have hopefully been spared by quick thinking, and the ones that I lose needed to be touched up anyways. However, I will start moving all of my stories to my own website (the link is in my author page), as I do not agree with FF.net's decision in this matter, and can't really support a site that claims to promote imagination, but wants to limit it at the same time. Thank you all for your continued support!!  
  
****  
  
To Dance Beneath the Diamond Sky  
by Kristen Elizabeth  
  
****  
  
"Dance til the stars come down from the rafters. Dance, dance, dance til you drop." -WH Auden  
  
"The essence of all art is to have pleasure in giving pleasure." -Mikhail Baryshnikov  
  
****  
  
"I don't know, man. I still think something is missing," Duo mused, scratching his clean-shaven chin. "Oh!! I know. More eyeliner." He reached for a black kohl pencil.   
  
"Maxwell..." Heero stood up from the padded chair in front of one large, light-framed mirror. "Go fuck yourself. You're not getting that thing near my face again."  
  
"If you hadn't twitched, it wouldn't have gone in your eye."  
  
"If you had a steadier hand, I wouldn't have twitched."  
  
A stagehand wearing a head-set peeked into the boys dressing room. "Heero! Duo! Five minutes was called two minutes ago!! Get in places or it's my ass!!"  
  
Duo followed Heero out into the dark wings. The pleasant whine of the orchestra warming up almost drowned out the buzz of anticipation permeating the backstage area. "Aww, damnit," Duo cursed. "Now I'm getting all worried. Always happens right about now."  
  
"Are you going to throw up?" Heero asked, flexing his palms.   
  
"I don't think so."   
  
They stopped to the side of one teaser curtain. "Then shut up."  
  
Duo sniffed. "You're mean when you're nervous."  
  
"I'm not nervous."   
  
"Of course you're not. Nerves are a sign of weakness." Duo dropped into a grand plie all of the sudden, giving his legs a final warm-up. "And it's not like you're going to mess up or anything."  
  
Heero shook out one foot and then the other. "I never worry when I'm dancing with Relena."  
  
"That is just about the sweetest thing ever." Sally Po, one of the company's prima ballerinas playing the part of Prince Sigfried's mother, the Queen, that night, came up behind them, decked out in her elaborate costume.   
  
"Heero? Sweet?" Duo flashed the older woman a devious grin. "Don't be fooled; it's a passing thing."  
  
Across the stage, seemingly miles away, Heero could see Relena waiting in the wings. His girlfriend stood out from the other dancers who milled around her, a pure snow angel amongst brightly-colored court dancers. She hadn't noticed him yet, as her leg was currently lifted up to her face and all of her concentration was on maintaining her balance. But when she let the leg down after a moment and turned her face, their eyes met.   
  
Relena smiled at him, the glitter on her lips twinkling in the light of the ghost lamp behind her. He swallowed hard. Those same tempting lips started moving, mouthing a silent message meant only for his eyes.   
  
"I love you," he said aloud.   
  
Duo's arms around his neck broke the magic of his moment with Relena. "I love you too, man!"  
  
"I take it back," Sally said as the lights on the stage went down and the noise from the house died away. "*That's* the sweetest thing ever."   
  
After throwing Duo's arms off, Heero glanced back across the stage. It was too dark now to make out her face. All he could see was the white from her costume. A moment later, the music started and the dancers playing his royal court lept onto the stage.   
  
"Break a leg," Duo whispered as Heero prepared to make his entrance.   
  
"Break everything," he shot back just before he and Sally stepped out of the wings and into the spotlight.  
  
****  
  
"Well..." Treize move into the crushed velvet seat beside Millardo, empty now that Lucrezia and Anne had gone to fight the line in the ladies room before the second act began. "How do you think it's going?"  
  
"The Danse du Prince was incredible." Millardo shook his head. "The kid's got talent, pure and simple."   
  
Treize nodded. "Picked him out of the group in the first few minutes of his audition four years ago. Thank God Chevalier dropped all that lawsuit shit."   
  
"Yeah," his friend mused. After a second, he glanced around. "I haven't seen him yet. Come to think of it..." Millardo craned his neck, looking around the mezzanine. "My mother hasn't shown up yet either. And Relena's on in ten minutes."   
  
"Helen doesn't strike me as the kind of woman who has a lot of time for her daughter."  
  
Millardo snorted softly. "She doesn't. It's not Relena she'd be coming to see. Just the vicarious thrill of watching her succeed." He settled back into his seat. "She had better not be shacked up with that bastard. In my house!"   
  
"Maybe she's just passed out," Treize said, not entirely comfortingly.   
  
"Who's passed out?" Both men stood up upon hearing Lucrezia's voice, as she and Anne made their way down the crowded row. "Mother Helen?"  
  
Millardo took her hand and guided her into her seat. "I don't want to be there when she wakes up and realizes she missed the show."   
  
The house lights flickered once, then twice. "Is this Yuy boy going to make the company, Millardo?" Anne asked, fanning herself lightly with her program. "He's not bad."   
  
"Wait until you see him dance with Relena." Lucrezia winked at her fiancee "If they don't make it in together, I'm considering leaving you, sweetie." He shot her a look which only made her laugh.  
  
"No offense, Millardo, but I heard that your little sister had some...troubles initially. With her dancing." Anne's smile was laced with the cool venom of competition.   
  
He threaded his fingers through Lucrezia's. "No one starts out perfect, Anne. But at the risk of sounding corny, you'd be amazed what time and work can do to help even the most imperfect of dancers. And Relena started out anything but imperfect."  
  
"And love," Lucrezia added. "Let's not forget how much that helped her."   
  
"Love," Millardo repeated, scowling. "I'll stick to time and work. Less unsettling where my little sister is concerned."   
  
****  
  
"He is wonderful, yes?"  
  
Trowa flipped through his program with casual indifference, only partly stemming from the fact that he could not read it. "Relena's Heero? Eh...he can dance."  
  
Quatre shook his finger at his lover. "We do not compete with him, my love. All we have to be is friends."   
  
"I am here only to see our Relena," the taller boy replied, taking Quatre's hand and lifting the back of it to his lips. "And to be with you."   
  
"Excuse me."   
  
The request turned both of their heads. It was the girl who had been sitting next to them for the entire first act. Quatre and Trowa both immediately rose to allow her by.   
  
"Can I be of helping you?" Quatre asked her.   
  
Shaking her dark curls, the girl moved past them down the row, her shuffle slowed down even further by the heavy walking cast that encased her entire left leg up to the knee. "No. Thank you." She took her empty seat next to Trowa just as the house lights flickered for a second time.   
  
Quatre found Trowa's hand in the dark; their fingers laced together as darkness engulfed everything but the stage as once again they were thrust into the world of *Swan Lake.*  
  
****  
  
"Heero..." Relena's breath came in short, ragged gasps. "We did it."   
  
The roar of the crowd filtered through the heavy curtains. Beside her, Heero swallowed back his own pants and grasped her hand. All around them, the other dancers were hurrying into curtain call places. "You amazed me tonight."   
  
She had no time to respond. Without warning, the barrier between them and the audience lifted and Heero led her out into the spotlight. After two deep curtsies, the house lights came on. As Relena straightened up, the thousands of people packed into the Lincoln Center all began to stand. The applause, the myriad of approving faces...it was almost too much for the girl who, only a few months earlier, had resigned herself to a life in the anonymity of the corps.   
  
Fortunately Heero's hand kept her anchored. And when the curtain dropped for the final time a few minutes later, not a second passed before he had enfolded her into his arms entirely. Relena closed her eyes and leaned into his chest. "We did it," she repeated.   
  
There were cheers and whoops of joy and release from their classmates, but Heero and Relena simply held each other for a long time, too exhausted to do much else. They had laid out their hearts and souls in the performance and it had paid off. "Flawless" was one word people would later use to describe their pas de deux. Exquisite. Passionate. Gorgeous.   
  
Finally, Heero lifted his cheek from its resting place on her tightly woven bun. "I knew you could do it," he said in a low voice as he lifted her chin up for a soft kiss.   
  
"Only with you," Relena replied a moment later. "Thank you, Heero."   
  
"There's no reason to..."  
  
"Can I get in on this?" Duo stuck his face in between his favorite couple. Sweat dotted his temples and the impression the mask had made was clearly visible across his forehead. "You two were fucking awesome!"   
  
Relena smiled at him as much as her tired body would let her. "You too, Duo." She glanced back at Heero. "I am so ready for a hot shower."  
  
Duo's grin turned mischievous. "Save water...shower with a..."  
  
Heero cut him off. "Don't finish that sentence." He took Relena's hand again. "Come on. We'll be expected at the publicity party."   
  
"Yeah...you don't want to be all smelly when you get asked to join the company." Duo winked at them as they moved off the stage together. He let out a small sigh and scratched the red mark on his brow. Just when he was about to follow them to the locker rooms, he caught sight of something...someone out of place, standing just beyond the reach of the lights in the wings. Staring at him.   
  
Squinting, he walked forward a few steps. "Can I help...."  
  
His question trailed off as the person stepped into the light. The first thing he noticed was the thick plaster go-go boot on her leg. No, not a boot...a cast. His eyes moved up the rest of the person's body. Slender, but supple....with what were still the most perfect breasts he had ever seen. Dark curls, pale complexion. Button nose, cornflower eyes.   
  
"Hey," the girl said when he failed to say anything. "Congratulations, Duo. You were wonderful tonight."   
  
Duo licked his suddenly dry lips. "Hilde. What the hell are you doing here?"  
  
****  
  
To Be Continued 


	25. I'm like a bird

Disclaimer: Too tired to be either repetitive or clever. They're not mine.  
  
Author's Notes: A short chapter, but hopefully a good one. Sorry for all the delys on all the stories, but school kind of sucks right now. Thanks for all the kind words; they make the pursuit of a degree easier to survive.  
  
****  
  
To Dance Beneath the Diamond Sky  
by Kristen Elizabeth  
  
****  
  
Duo licked his suddenly dry lips. "Hilde. What the hell are you doing here?" Instantly, he shook his head. "Wait...that didn't come out right." A second zipped by as he thought. "Actually, maybe it did. 'Cause you're just about the last person I expected to see tonight."   
  
She delicately cleared her throat. "I know. I probably shouldn't be here. I just..." Hilde stopped, looking up towards the flys to keep her tears at bay. "I have no idea how to say everything I need to say."   
  
Moments passed as Hilde struggled with her thoughts and Duo studied the woman he still loved. "You look...beautiful," he said, quietly.   
  
Her gaze shot down to the cast on her leg. "Duo, you don't have to....I mean, after everything that's happened..." Her tears spilled over. "Damnit! Why are you so good to me?!"  
  
"I knew you'd be up and about way before they said you would be," he continued. "Nothing keeps my Hilde down."  
  
"Please stop," she whispered. "I don't deserve it. I don't deserve you anymore."   
  
Before Duo had a chance to reply, the company's tech director approached them from the wings. "Hey!" Wufei Chang's face was set in a scowl. "Can you two take it somewhere else? My crew's got work to do."   
  
"C'mon." Duo reached out to grasp Hilde's arm. It was something he had done a million times in the past. Only now, when his fingers made contact with her flesh, he immediately took a step back. It was too intimate, too soon. "Um...let's..." He pointed to the wings.   
  
Hilde followed him, trying her hardest to walk as straight and normally as possible, despite her cast. When they were off the stage, she licked her lips. "Duo...before this goes any further, I have to tell you something."   
  
"What's that?" he asked, scratching the back of his perspiration-soaked head.   
  
"I'm sorry." Her simple statement hung in the air for a moment. "For everything I put you through since...since my accident." She paused. "Before it even." Her lower lip trembled. "I was a bitch. And you never left my side in spite of it."   
  
"Until you switched hospitals without telling me."   
  
Hilde crossed her arms, holding onto her stomach as though it would fall apart. "I'm sorry," she repeated. "At the time...I was a mess. I was blaming everyone else for my lot in life. Especially Relena. And you, to a certain extent. I just wanted to get away from everything. Everyone."  
  
Duo looked down at his black ballet shoes. "So...what's changed?"  
  
"I have." Hilde took a step forward. "After some intense physical therapy and even more intense amateur counseling, courtesy of my physical therapist. I mean...I still have a long way to go." She hesitated for a moment. "Tonight was really hard, Duo. I wasn't sure I was going to make it through the second act."   
  
"But you did," he reminded her. "And don't you think tonight was just as hard for me? Not the dancing...the not having you part. The being alone."   
  
She shook her head. "I've hurt you so much, I know. I'm so sorry."  
  
After a heavy minute of silence, Duo pointed to her cast. "So, if you're walking now...does that mean you'll get to dance someday, too?"  
  
"I don't know," Hilde whispered. "But do you know what? It doesn't matter."   
  
He frowned. "What?"  
  
Hilde unfolded her arms. "Everything's changed for me, Duo. And for awhile, I thought those changes were going to be too much to bear. You know that dancing was my whole life."   
  
"Yeah." Duo glanced away. "Just dancing. I remember."  
  
"But I was wrong." Hilde moved even closer to him, still maintaining the space he seemed to need. "I never even looked around and realized what my whole life should have been about. All I saw was dance. I didn't see it, Duo, but I do now."  
  
"See what?"  
  
She smiled the smile that had haunted his dreams for weeks. "You. Just you."   
  
Duo stared at her. "Me?"   
  
"You." Her voice cracked as she began to cry. "I've missed you so much, Duo."   
  
"Babe..." The familiar wrenching pain in his heart that plagued him whenever she was upset hit him instantly. "Babe...please don't cry. You know that just turns me into pudding."   
  
Hilde wiped tears off her cheeks. "I don't expect you to just forgive me. And maybe I messed up things too much and they'll never be repaired, but..." She took a breath. "I just needed to let you know...how much I love you. How much I've always loved you."   
  
He watched her for a moment. The slender shoulders that he had loved to massage shook ever so slightly. Her eyes were wet with blue tears; her lips almost ruby from her nervous nibbles on them. It had taken so much for her to be where she was. Accelerated physical therapy and the pain that went with it, personal revelations, the ultimate realization that her life could go on, even if it would never be the way she had planned it.   
  
Having never closed off his heart to her, Duo decided not to waste another moment. So many of them had already been lost. He couldn't get those back, but he could make sure that not another passed without her knowing that he felt, had always felt, and would always feel exactly the same way.  
  
The sudden warmth and pressure of two strong, still slightly sweaty arms around her snapped Hilde out of her quiet sobs. Her eyes flew open only to look up into Duo's warm violet stare. "You're forgiven," he said, his voice husky with emotion. "'Cause I love you, babe."   
  
"Duo..." Her eyes closed again as more hot tears spilled over. Her own arms wrapped around his muscled torso and she buried her face in his black feathered costume. "How could I have ever put ballet over you?"  
  
His reply was muffled by her curls. "You loved it, too, babe."   
  
"I did." She sniffed. "I know it's not what I was meant to do now though. You told me that once....that maybe this all happened to show me what I'm really meant to do with my life." Hilde's throat closed up. "I guess I just wasn't meant to be a dancer."   
  
Duo lifted his head up. With only a moment's consideration, he bent and gently scooped her up into his arms.   
  
"Duo!" Hilde clung to his neck. "What are you doing?"   
  
Without replying, he carried her out onto the stage. The curtain had been lifted once again; thousands of empty, velvet seats stared back at them. "Duo," she said again. "Tell me what..."  
  
"The first time I met you, I fell in love with you," he cut her off. "And it wasn't because you could jump high, or twirl just right, or even that you looked so damn cute in a leotard. It was because you had this huge spirit and energy. I didn't have a name for it when I was thirteen; I just felt drawn to it."   
  
Hilde relaxed into his arms. "Oh Duo..."  
  
His lips suddenly met hers. The much-missed feeling of their mouths melding made her whimper and him nearly drop her. But he held on and long before he had gotten his fill, pulled back. "You have the soul of someone who can't help but soar, no matter what she does." Duo tightened his grip on her and without any warning, spun around.   
  
Hilde shrieked. "Oh my god!" Laughter lit up her eyes. He turned again and she laughed. "Duo!"  
  
Duo grinned, loving the feeling of spinning with her in his arms. "You'll always be a dancer in your heart, babe. And I'll always be here to help you twirl."   
  
Before she could break down, Hilde kissed him again. A few minutes later, their lips were still locked, making up for lost time. So engrossed in each were they, that neither of them noticed a tall, dark man in formal clothes walking through the wings, heading for the girls dressing rooms. If they had, perhaps they would have noticed the blank look of detached confusion on his face.   
  
Or the one word he muttered under his breath as he moved in slow motion. "Relena...."  
  
****  
  
To Be Continued 


	26. Come what may

Disclaimer: Oh, just say it to yourself. You have it memorized;)  
  
Author's Notes: A long chapter to make up for the last, short one. This was a very, very hard chapter to write, but fortunately I have a massive paper due soon that I was trying to avoid, so I managed to get it done. I hope you enjoy it. Well....maybe "enjoy" isn't the right word. Let's put it this way, I promise that the next chapter will be out soon. Love to you all!!  
  
****  
  
To Dance Beneath the Diamond Sky  
by Kristen Elizabeth  
  
****  
  
"Dance every performance as if it were your last." -Erik Bruhn  
  
****  
  
"Mr. Peacecraft! Jake Manheim from the Times Arts and Entertainment. What did you think of tonight's workshop as an example of your company's dance academy?"  
  
Millardo ignored the flashbulbs going off in his face as he answered the reporter's question. "Once again my good friend, Treize, has proven that he is this city's foremost dance instructor. His work with the students has been inspiring, as we've all seen in tonight's incredible performances. As an example of my company's work, I couldn't be prouder."  
  
"Mr. Peacecraft, is it true that your half-sister danced the role of Odette tonight?"   
  
"It is, yes."   
  
Beside him, Lucrezia spoke up where he could not. "She is an exceptional dancer, as are all of our advanced students."   
  
"So..." The Times reporter addressed them again. "Are she and her partner shoo-in's for next year's company roster?"  
  
"The new company members will be informed later tonight." Millardo smiled tightly. "That will be all for now, ladies and gentlemen."  
  
As the reporters grudgingly allowed the couple to slip out of their grasp, Lucrezia squeezed his hand. "You handled that very well."   
  
"They shouldn't be asking about Relena like that," he scowled. "Like I only cast her because she's my sister."   
  
"People always suspect the worst, darling. It's human nature." She kissed his cheek sweetly. "Treize will love what you said about him."  
  
Millardo lifted one shoulder. "He likes seeing his name in the Times. And Mother will like the bit about Relena. At least she'll like seeing 'Dorlian' in black and white." He frowned. "Where in the hell is that woman, anyways?"   
  
"Probably somewhere between her fourteenth cocktail and the toilet bowl," Lucrezia replied. "I can't believe that after everything she claims to have done in the name of Relena's career, that she'd be so out of control as to miss the biggest night of it."   
  
His frown didn't dissipate. "It's not like her." Reaching into his tuxedo pocket, he withdrew his cell phone. "I'll call the penthouse; maybe Magda can get her sober and down here before Relena comes out."  
  
Lucrezia sighed softly, but said nothing more as she readjusted the fringed shawl around her arms and he dialed.   
  
A minute later, Millardo pulled the phone away from his ear. "There's no answer."  
  
"Maybe she sent Magda home for the night."  
  
Millardo replaced his phone in his jacket. "Maybe. I just..."   
  
"You just what?" She slipped her hand into his. "What's wrong, love?"  
  
"I don't know." He shook his head. "I can't place it. I just feel like something's not..." He stopped, forcing himself to smile. "It's probably nothing." Millardo glanced at his Rolex. "I hope Relena doesn't take her usual half-hour shower. I'd like to get business out of the way."   
  
Lucrezia grinned behind her hand. "Perhaps she and Heero are helping conserve water..."  
  
Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, there were no photographers around to capture the look on the Ballet Conservatory Director's face.   
  
****  
  
Relena was, indeed, taking her time in the shower; the hot pressure just felt too good on her overworked muscles. When the water had soothed away every last ache, she soaped up her long hair with Heero's favorite vanilla-scented shampoo.   
  
She closed her eyes as she massaged her scalp, remembering the time she had found out that particular tidbit of information. Lying in his arms, the night after their dinner with Trowa, Quatre and Duo...he couldn't stop touching her hair, burying his face in it, inhaling like it was the only air he could possibly breathe.   
  
The memory of the rest of that evening's events warmed her more than the water rinsing her hair clean. She turned the shower off and reached for her towel. Wrapping it around her wet body, Relena stepped out of the stall, refreshed and more than ready to be with Heero again.   
  
Her classmates had already cleared out, obviously eager to get to the lobby and await Millardo's announcement about his choices for the open company spots. She smiled ruefully. It really didn't matter anymore whether or not she made it. Thanks to Heero, she had proven to herself that she was a good dancer, perhaps even better than just good. That was all she had ever really needed.  
  
Shivering in the cool air of the silent locker room, Relena quickly dried herself off and wound her hair up into the towel. After pulling her bag from her locker, she dressed just as fast, stepping into a short Versace evening dress a few minutes later. Her arms bent around her back as much as they could to do up the zipper.   
  
A hand closed around her wrist. Relena jumped, but before she could do anything else, she felt the zipper being moved, closing the back of her dress. "Heero?" she guessed, more than a little desperate hope in her voice.   
  
"I killed you," the person behind her said in flat French. "I killed you, cher."   
  
Her eyes flew open in sheer terror. "Jean-Paul!" Instinct propelled her forward, away from him. She spun around, clasping a hand to her bare throat. "Oh my god..."  
  
"I killed you," he said again, his eyes completely glazed over. "I put my hands right there..." He pointed to where she was clutching her own neck. "And you closed your eyes...forever."  
  
"What are you...what are you talking about?" She swallowed heavily. Her fright was so great that the French words were barely audible. "I told you...leave me alone, or I will tell everyone what you..."   
  
Jean-Paul's eyes closed briefly and when he opened them again, the distant look had been replaced with one of perplexion, somehow even more chilling. "But you were onstage tonight. Dancing. Dancing for me...." A slow grin spread across his face. "You came back to me, cher."   
  
"You're insane," she whispered in English.   
  
He shook his head, clearly even more confused by her words. "But you have. You are right here, ma cher. Ma belle..." Jean-Paul took a step towards her.  
  
"Stay back!" she cried. "There are so many people in this building..." *Heero is just down the hall,* she added to herself. "All I have to do is scream and every single one of them will know what a perverted, crazy bastard you really are!!"  
  
"I watched you tonight, ma petit Relena," he continued, moving even closer. For every step he was taking, she took another backwards. "Even dancing with him, you were magnifique! I watched you..." He licked his lips. "You look so beautiful when you are wet, cher."   
  
"Oh god..." Her next step was as far as she could go; her back was now pressed against the cold metal of the lockers. "Heero..."  
  
Jean-Paul's eyes flashed. "Do not call for him. You are mine. You came back to me! Just me!!"  
  
She balled up her trembling hands as hot tears cascaded down her cheeks. "Stop it!! Go away!! Please...leave me alone!"  
  
"Ma cher...you could not leave me. Even in your death." He slammed one hand against a locker next to her head. "You are mine forever."   
  
****  
  
Heero closed up his locker and reached into for his duffel bag for a pair of black socks. Sitting onto the bench that ran between the rows, he pulled them on, shaking back his freshly washed and dried hair. He was stalling, giving Relena the ample time she had asked for to make herself what she called "presentable." Quite frankly, he liked her however it was that she happened to be at any particular moment, be that perfumed and coiffed or rumpled and sated...wrapped in his bedsheets after...  
  
That sort of celebration would come later, he reminded himself, if she was so inclined, which he had a feeling she would be. Only that night, he was not going to let her get away from him before the sun came up.   
  
After he stepped into his shoes, Heero stood and tugged at the tie around his neck. It was a gesture of pure impatience; the forty-five minutes he had spent away from Relena were just about enough. He zipped up his bag and checked to make sure his costume was hung in the proper spot on the boy's wardrobe rack, before starting for the locker room doors.  
  
The moment his hand touched the metal bar, the door swung at him, forced open from the other side. Heero managed to jump back just in time before the door could deliver a powerful blow to his nose. Duo and Hilde appeared from the hallway, holding hands and laughing at something.   
  
"Oh man!" Duo exclaimed when he realized what had almost happened. "Sorry!"  
  
Heero's eyes narrowed slightly. "Sure you are." He blinked at Hilde. "It's been a long time." Old guilt welled up anew within his chest. "How are you?"  
  
"I'm fine," she said, smiling brightly. "Well, a lot better at least." There was a pause. "You were amazing tonight, Heero. You and Relena both."   
  
He inclined his head, accepting the compliment. "She'd be honored to hear that from you."   
  
"I owe her some apologies first." Hilde cleared her throat. "I've been out of the loop...but are you two...?"  
  
"They are!" Duo exclaimed, gleefully. "And I never even had to resort to Plan C."  
  
"Plan C?" Heero cocked an eyebrow.   
  
"Shouldn't you be picking Relena up right about now?" the braided dancer continued rather quickly. "I bet she's waiting for you."   
  
Heero nodded, shifting the duffel bag strap that lay over his shoulder. "Everyone's already left here, so you two can make as much noise as you want. The walls are soundproof."   
  
A blush inflamed Hilde's cheeks; Duo merely rolled his eyes. "It's not like we can do anything that would get her cast wet." Her embarrassed stare swung over to him. Catching the furious undertones in it, Duo attempted a chuckle. "I'll just be getting my shower now..."   
  
Her hand made sharp contact with his firm ass after he planted a kiss on her cheek on his way to the showers. Heero was already out the door, heading down the hall towards the girls locker rooms.   
  
****  
  
Trowa ran his fingers through his lover's silky blond locks as he came down from the peak to which the shorter boy's talented mouth had just sent him. "Quatre..." he murmured. "Je t'aime."   
  
"And I, you," Quatre replied, standing back up and brushing off his knees as Trowa pulled himself together. The dark corner of the backstage area was the perfect place for a quick tryst, but Quatre's demure nature had begun to take over, and the fear of getting caught no longer seemed as exciting. "We should go mon'aime. I want to see our Relena."   
  
After readjusting all the pieces of clothing that Quatre had done such a good job of undoing, Trowa took his lover's hand and kissed the back of it passionately. "But I have not made you cry out my name, Little One."  
  
Quatre cupped Trowa's cheek. "Later. I promise that..." He stopped suddenly upon hearing footsteps behind them. Both boys looked just as Heero Yuy stepped into the light from the nearby open door that led to the wings.   
  
"I thought I heard voices." Heero moved towards them. "Are you lost?"  
  
"We are not being lost," Quatre replied, quickly running a hand over his mouth to brush away any possible evidence of their lovemaking. "But thank you."   
  
"Quatre, right?" Heero nodded at the couple. "If you're waiting for Relena, I was just going to get her."  
  
Trowa's hand pressed into his. "We are waiting in lobby then." He smiled at his friend's boyfriend. "Trowa and me this night enjoyed your dancing."   
  
Heero nodded. "I appreciate that." He backed up a step. "See you later then."   
  
Once the American dancer was gone, Quatre let a pent-up breath go. "I think that my English is making much improvement," he told Trowa, beaming.   
  
His lover kissed him suddenly. "Everything you do is perfect, Little One."   
  
****  
  
Fear, cold and sharp, bit into Heero as he stopped in front of the doors to the girls locker room. He froze for a moment, beads of sweat breaking out along his hairline. The backstage hallway was empty and silent, but inside his head, a thousand voices screamed at him for reasons he could not understand.   
  
"Relena," he said out of nowhere. Heero swallowed and wrapped his hand around the metal handle of one door. With one fluid movement, he pulled it open. "Relena!"   
  
The first thing he heard was a muffled whimper and the sound of something hitting a locker on the very far side of the large room. The sound grew louder.   
  
He moved into the room on numb feet. "Relena! Where are you?"  
  
There was another whimper, even louder and even longer; a chill ran down his spine. But it was nothing compared to the feeling in his stomach a moment later when her voice cried out to him. "Heero!! Help m...." She was quiet way too abruptly.   
  
His duffel bag hit the floor and he was off and running through the maze of lockers. "Relena!" His cry echoed off the walls. "I'm coming, Relena!" She had slipped and fallen. She had hurt herself. She was in pain. She was dying. Too many visions of the way he might find her pummeled him from every dark place within his mind.   
  
Any of those images would have been easier to deal with than what he saw as he turned the final corner.   
  
He had her down on the floor, her head jammed up against the leg of the long, wooden bench. Although Heero could see much around her attackers body, he could see that Relena's dress had been ripped down the front. One breast lay exposed. The man on top of her held her wrists captive underneath the bench. It was his legs that had managed to pry Relena's apart; he lay between them now, his free hand working at the fly of his tuxedo pants.   
  
The man's head swung around upon sensing Heero's sudden presence, his face all-too recognizable. He snarled like a startled animal. "Leave!" he ordered in French. "We want to be alone."   
  
Heero didn't speak a word of the language, but then his comprehension of English wasn't even all that great at the moment. His entire six foot frame of youthful muscles shook uncontrollably. "Get the fuck off her," he said, his voice throbbing with rage. "Before I kill you."  
  
"Heero..." Relena whispered, tears flowing into the tangled, wet locks spread around her head.   
  
Jean-Paul seemed to understand the younger man's words; he removed his hand from between his and Relena's bodies, but did not release her wrists. "She is mine," he said in English. "She came back to me!"  
  
Without wasting another second on words or thought, Heero lunged forward, grabbing the French man by the black coat on his back. As though he weighed no more than a single brick, Heero threw Jean-Paul off of his girlfriend's body, taking much satisfaction when the man hit the bank of lockers and landed in a crumpled pile on the floor.   
  
His rage switched to worry within a matter of seconds. Heero bent down to help Relena up. "Are you all right?"  
  
Her legs were too unsteady for her to stand without his support. She could not speak through her sobs; she could only lean against him and cry. As he held her, he tugged her dress over her bare breast. "Shh..." he soothed, as best he could. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Jean-Paul slowly pulling himself back to his feet. "Hold on, baby." He guided Relena to the far end of the bench. She clung to him frantically. "I have to take care of something."   
  
When he had gently pried Relena's arms away from his neck, Heero turned on her would-be rapist. "I should have killed you when I had the chance, instead of just bruising your nose."   
  
Jean-Paul rotated the shoulder that had hit the lockers. "She does not love you," he spat. "She is my Relena. My belle. I killed her and she came back to me!"   
  
Heero shook his head. "Fuck. You're fucking crazy."   
  
In the seconds that followed his statement, Jean-Paul flew at him, fists raised. Heero was more than prepared; he ducked the first punch and delivered a powerful kidney shot with his elbow as the man stumbled past him. Jean-Paul cried out in pain and dropped to his hands and knees.   
  
Seizing the opportunity, Heero grabbed the man's hair and pulled him into a kneeling position by the thinning strands. "If you walk out of here," he hissed. "You never think about her again. You leave, you disappear, you forget that you ever knew her. You won't exist to us anymore and I swear to god, we will never, ever regret it."   
  
"Relena," Jean-Paul muttered between clenched teeth, reaching out to her. On the bench, Relena wound her arms even tighter around her violated body.  
  
"No!" Still holding him by his hair, Heero punched him hard and fast and ten times worse than in Treize's office. "You don't say her name. You don't get to say her name. Got it?!" Blood trickled from the man's nose. "Got it?" Heero repeated. When the man still said nothing, he raised his fist again as a warning.   
  
"Oui," Jean-Paul finally conceded. Heero released his hair and the man fell back to the ground.   
  
Taking a step back, Heero breathed in and out. He brought his shaking fist up to rub at his mouth. "Get the fuck out of here while you can." A moment passed before he turned around, turned back to Relena. Her eyes were blood-shot and wet; she had been watching the whole thing.   
  
He was kneeling next to her before she could even blink. He smoothed her wet hair away from her face, his own eyes growing red with the extremity of his emotions. "Relena...I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry...I didn't get here sooner."   
  
"I'm okay," she lied for his sake. He stared at her for a moment before circling her slender body with his arms. His cheek pressed up against the ripped fabric of her dress; when she touched his back, she could feel the contractions of his silent tears. "Heero..." She closed her eyes for a moment, holding him as much as he was holding her. "I'm..."   
  
She stopped suddenly as her eyes opened. The sharp glint of silver blinded her for a split second. Her bag, lying open on the bench a few feet away. A hand reaching into it. Relena blinked.   
  
Jean-Paul pulled the knife, the very knife which she had foolishly thought could erase him from their lives forever, out of her bag with cold ease. She fisted handfuls of Heero's shirt. "No..." The French man smiled at her.   
  
Heero lifted his head from her chest. "What's wrong?" The fresh terror in her eyes compelled him to turn his head to see what it was that inspired it. But it was a moment too late.   
  
The blade slid into Heero's side as though he were a soft stick of butter. His quick motions had only bought him seconds, although had he not tried to move to avoid Jean-Paul's attack, the knife would have been plunged straight through his spinal cord. Heero looked down at his body; his white dress shirt absorbed much of the blood, but some of still touched Relena, smearing across her bare legs.   
  
He looked up at her as Jean-Paul fled, having pulled the knife back out of his body. "Relena." His face twisted in pain as he slumped over, clutching at his wound. "I'm sorry..."  
  
It was Hilde who found them only a few minutes later, breathing heavily from the painful task of running with her injury. What she saw on the locker room floor made the blood drain from her face. "Oh my god..."  
  
Relena was bent over Heero, cradling his head with her arm, her other blood-stained hand pressed against his ribcage as though she were holding him together. She was shaking, but talking to him in as calm a voice as Hilde had ever heard. "Keep looking at me, Heero....don't you dare close your eyes...I'm right here and everything...everything is going to be...just fine. Heero...Heero...no, don't look away!!" She addressed Hilde suddenly. "Call 911. My cell-phone is in my bag."   
  
Hilde reached for it and dialed with trembling fingers. She blinked back tears. Duo was off running after the man who had emerged from the locker room just as they were heading towards it, a bloody knife in his hand. As much as she only wanted to be thinking about Heero's injuries, she couldn't help but worry about her impetuous boyfriend's safety.   
  
"Can you hear?" Relena asked Heero. "Hilde's here and she's calling for help. You're going to be fine now." A tear dripped off her nose and landed on his pale cheek. "Just hang on, Heero. Please...hang on."   
  
He tried to lick his lips, but his tongue was completely dry. "Relena..."   
  
"No talking. Save all your energy," she instructed.   
  
"I know who we are."   
  
Relena shook her head. "What do you mean?"   
  
"I know...who to compare us to." His voice was barely above a whisper, but he kept going, determined to get his thought out while he could. "Gomez...and Morticia Addams."  
  
In spite of the horrible situation, Relena let out a quick laugh. "What? Why's that?"  
  
"Because..." Heero swallowed; the strong taste of blood was heavy in the back of his throat. "He loved her so much....he would have done anything for her." His eyelids drooped. "He'd die for her..."  
  
"Heero." She shook his head gently. "Look at me." But his eyes didn't open. "Heero..." She shook him with more force. "Heero!! Please, Heero...please. Open your eyes!!!" A sledgehammer crashed into her chest. "Heero!!!"  
  
"Please hurry," Hilde whispered to the 911 operator. "I don't think he's going to make it."  
  
****  
  
To Be Continued 


	27. I want to hold your hand

Disclaimer: Not mine, yadda, yadda, yadda.  
  
Author's Notes: Aww...thank yall so much for caring about this story. Your support has absolutely amazed and totally touched me. I hope you continue to read all the way to the end...and that it's worth your time;)   
  
Dedication: To Angel and her lovely, lovely pictures. Thank you so much.   
  
****  
  
To Dance Beneath the Diamond Sky  
by Kristen Elizabeth  
  
****  
  
"How long until I can retire?"  
  
Sally Po laughed as she came up behind her lover and wrapped her long, slender arms around his chest. "What...and give all of this up?" She laid her cheek on his back, but not before indicating the empty expanse of seats that stretched out around them.  
  
Wufei covered her hands with his, reveling in the scent of her perfume. "Hawaii sounds good. You could hula dance."  
  
"You've been working on that sense of humor thing, haven't you?" She moved around in front of him and looked up into his dark-in-dark irises. "Keep it up."  
  
Raising one eyebrow as high as it would go, he ducked his head for a kiss. But his lips never made it to the ballerina's. They were interrupted by a sudden shout from the darkness of the wings.   
  
"Hey!! Stop, you fucker!!" The sounds of heavy footsteps on wood echoed off the acoustically sound theatre. "I said stop!!"  
  
Wufei stepped in front of Sally. "Damn it. I hate playing babysitter to these kids." After receiving a sympathetic squeeze on his arm, he started for the wings to calm whichever two young dancers were messing around on his stage.   
  
He had barely made it halfway to the teaser curtains when a man, who upon a second take looked vaguely familiar, emerged onto the stage at break-neck speed. But what really caught Wufei's attention was not the man's face, or even his undone belt and untucked shirt. It was the seven-inch chopping knife in his hand that was covered with a fine sheen of blood.   
  
Another figure burst out from the curtains a half-second later. This person Wufei recognized immediately. The braided dancer and supreme teenage wise-ass, Duo Maxwell. Only this Duo Maxwell wasn't a happy-go-lucky boy running after one of his goof-ball friends; this was a young man on a serious mission.  
  
One that had already wounded him.   
  
Duo clutched his left bicep with one hand as he ran; blood coursed down his knuckles. The cut wasn't deep, but it hurt like hell, a reminder that the next time he managed to corner a crazy stranger with a knife, he should be much quicker on his toes.   
  
"Grab him!!" he yelled to the technical director. Duo stopped, the pain suddenly catching up with him. Gritting his teeth, he dropped to his knees on the hard wood floor he had been dancing upon only hours earlier.   
  
Pushing Sally out of harm's way, Wufei made a tackling jump for the disheveled man. "Wufei!!" she cried out as her lover and the psychotic hit the ground in a heap. "Oh my god! Be careful!!!"  
  
He didn't reply; he was too busy trying to keep a seven-inch weapon away from his face. Fortunately for him, the struggling man was losing most of his energy, although his eyes still burned brightly with panic, desperation and...general insanity.  
  
"Drop it," Wufei ordered, his voice low and deadly. When his order was disobeyed, he quickly flipped the man over onto his back, pinning him down with relative ease. Since both of his hands were occupied, he jerked his head at Sally. "The knife, woman."   
  
She rushed forward and pried the knife away from the man. It clattered to the floor well out of range.   
  
Breathing hard, Duo released his wound. The bleeding had slowed considerably. "Caught the fuckhead running outta the girls locker room. He got someone." He swallowed. "I think it might be..."  
  
"Duo!!" Hilde burst onto the stage, limp-running as fast as she could and clutching a cell-phone in her hand. She stopped to take in the sight that lay before her. "Is that him?" Her blue eyes flew open. "You're hurt!!!"   
  
Her boyfriend nodded as she kneeled next to him to examine his wound. "Who did he..." His words trailed off.   
  
"Heero," Hilde said quietly. She lifted the phone back to her ear. "I think we're going to need another ambulance."   
  
"I'm fine." Duo ran a bloody hand through his bangs. "Is Heero...okay? What about Relena?"  
  
"Excuse me," Wufei said, calling their attention to the fact that he was still straddling and pinning a writhing lunatic. On his theatre's new multi-million dollar floor. "Just what the fuck is going..."  
  
"...the easiest entrance is back this way. But I'd still like to know what the hell is going on. Who called you..." The sudden voices from the far end of the house cut off Wufei's question. Everyone onstage, with the exception of the knife-wiedling madman, turned to see Millardo Peacecraft, leading an EMS team down towards them. He froze halfway down the aisle, although the medical professionals kept going, rolling their stretcher and the supplies on it down the velvet path. "What is..."  
  
He didn't get to finish his question either. A team of police officers followed him. They quickly covered all areas of the house, several of them running towards the stage. The woman who seemed to be in charge addressed everyone in a loud, clear voice. "Nobody move until I know what's going on."  
  
Ignoring her, Hilde gestured wildly to the paramedics. "Get up here!!! Heero's bleeding to death!!"  
  
"Heero?" Millardo moved closer to the stage. "What happened? Who..." He stopped. "Chevalier?"   
  
The man pinned below Wufei spoke for the first time. Unfortunately, the words were in French. The female cop put a hand to her head as the man continued to scream in his own language. "All right, let's take this one step at a time. Get to the wounded; everyone else, don't move and don't talk unless it's some kind of explanation!!"  
  
With a little help from some of the cops, the EMS team managed to get onto the stage. Hilde quickly led them back into the wings. As Duo began to talk, Millardo quietly made his way onto the stage as well.   
  
"Hold it!" the cop pointed to him. "Just where the hell do you think you're going?"  
  
"To find my sister," he replied, narrowing his eyes.   
  
"What makes you think she's back there?"  
  
He shook his head; worry took a deep seed within his chest. "If Heero Yuy is back there...." He hesitated. "She's there, too." He continued walking, paying no more attention to anyone else who tried to stop him.   
  
If Heero was wounded....in what state was he going to find his sister?  
  
Millardo didn't even make it to the teaser curtains before his cell-phone rang.   
  
"What?" he answered.  
  
"Millardo Peacecraft?"  
  
"Yeah. What?"  
  
"Mr. Peacecraft, I'm with the police department. We got a call from your housekeeper about an hour ago."  
  
He sighed in impatience. "Yes? And?"  
  
"Well...I'm afraid I have some bad news. It's about your mother."  
  
****  
  
"Lucy." Anne Une discreetly slipped though the crowd and approached the company's choreographer. "Everyone is a little shaken up."  
  
The other woman sighed as she surveyed the crowds of New York's finest. "Can you blame them? Not many social events get stormed by the NYPD." She unconsciously rubbed her lower stomach. "God...what could be going on?"  
  
"Maybe you should make a statement," Treize suggested, coming up behind Anne.   
  
"Saying what?"  
  
He lifted his shoulders. "Would you like me to make it?" Lucrezia nodded vaguely. Before she could possibly change her mind, Treize headed for the jazz band who had been hired to play for the gala. Taking their microphone, he addressed the crowd.  
  
"Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen. As you know, there is a slight situation backstage. However, there is no danger at the present time, so we hope you'll kindly stay and enjoy the food and wine." He smiled, showing off his brilliantly white teeth. "The Ballet Conservatory thanks all of you for your support and patience."  
  
Across the room, Quatre squinted at the tall man with ginger curls. "I cannot understand him," he told Trowa a moment later. "He is speaking too fast."   
  
"I am sure it is all shit, whatever it is," Trowa replied, reaching into his coat for a cigarette. "See that look on his face?"  
  
Quatre looked and dissolved into quiet giggles a moment later. "Yes."  
  
Trowa lit up, ignoring the fact that it was not permitted in the lobby. "Pure shit."   
  
"Perhaps it is shit about whatever it is that is going on?"  
  
"That would be my guess." His boyfriend exhaled. "He is most likely, as they say, saving face."  
  
"So, if he is saving face..." Quatre bit his lip. "Then perhaps something truly bad has happened."   
  
Trowa lowered his cigarette, studying his lovers beautiful, worried face. "Little One..."  
  
"I did not see Jean-Paul this night. And neither Relena nor her Heero have come out yet." He paused. "Yet their other dancers have. Perhaps..."  
  
"Perhaps Chevalier has decided to leave our Relena alone. And perhaps she and her Heero are spending time together..." With his free hand, Trowa stroked Quatre's soft cheek.   
  
Quatre closed his eyes. "I cannot think when you touch me, mon cher..."   
  
"Then..." Trowa moved in closer and gave him a long, slow kiss. "Do not plan on thinking for the rest of the night."   
  
But even the sexy tang of tobacco on his lover's tongue couldn't erase the ache in Quatre's chest. Something was very, very wrong.  
  
****  
  
"Miss. Miss!"  
  
Relena lifted her head from the crook of Heero's shoulder. "Oh!" She sat up, blinking away tears. "Heero..." She gently shook him. "They're here, Heero."  
  
His eyelids fluttered, the most response he had been able to give since Hilde had left the locker room, some five minutes earlier. Relena looked up at the paramedics, fresh tears sliding down her cheeks. "Please help him."  
  
One man moved Relena out of the way, yanking her bloody fingers away from his wound. "We'll take care of him, miss. Just stand back and give us some space." Another medic joined him at Heero's side. "Are any organs exposed? Get the IV kit out...shit...the kid's lost about two and a half pints looks like..."  
  
"Miss." The third paramedic stepped in front of Relena, blocking her view of Heero. "Are you all right?" He indicated her torn dress.  
  
"I'm okay," she whispered. "Please...I can't lose Heero..."  
  
The man nodded. "We're going to do everything possible to help your friend. But first we need to know what happened exactly."  
  
"He...he was stabbed. From behind." Relena covered her mouth with one hand. "I tried to stop the bleeding..."  
  
"Has he lost consciousness?"  
  
Her shoulders lifted. "There were moments...he wouldn't open his eyes."   
  
"Does he have any existing medical conditions we should know about?"  
  
She blinked as she thought. "Heero...he's in perfect health. He's a dancer...the best dancer."  
  
The paramedic put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It's all right. You've done good..."   
  
"Relena," she listlessly supplied.  
  
"Relena, why don't you sit down and let me examine you. Just to make sure you're all right."   
  
She let him guide her to the bench, her back still turned towards Heero and the paramedics. Unfortunately, the well-meaning man couldn't close her ears.   
  
"...pretty damn deep. Call ahead and let them know...." A pause. "...doesn't look good..."  
  
Relena looked down at her lap as the medic examined her. She winced when he touched her knee, the joint she had landed on when Jean-Paul had made his attack. "Does that hurt?" he asked. She said nothing. "When we get to the hospital, we'll have them x-ray...."  
  
"All right." The medics working with Heero gestured to their partner. "Let's get him on the stretcher." Working together, the men lifted Heero's pale body onto the collapsible device. One held a clear bag of IV fluid over her boyfriend's head while the other two checked his pulse and blood pressure and kept a close watch on his still-bleeding wound.   
  
"Can I....I want to stay with Heero," Relena whispered.   
  
The men exchanged a look. "Come on then," one of them said, smiling sadly. "He'll need to see a friendly face when he comes around."  
  
What the man didn't say, but what he and his colleagues were thinking was not "when", but "if".  
  
****  
  
Hilde walked back onto the stage after pointing the paramedics into the locker rooms with a grave face. What she walked into was nothing short of chaos. Everyone was talking at once. A female paramedic was checking out Duo's arm. The police were fitting handcuffs onto a man screaming French curses and what sounded like Relena's name. Another cop was carefully placing the bloody knife into an evidence bag.  
  
And Millardo Peacecraft was sitting on the edge of his stage, his feet hanging into the orchestra pit. His cell phone lay next to him, but he was staring out at the rows of empty chairs.   
  
She approached him as quietly as her cast would let her, as not to startle him. "Mr. Peacecraft..."  
  
Blinking, he turned his head up to look at her. "Hilde. Yes. Good to...see you here."  
  
"Thank you." Hilde swallowed. "Mr. Peacecraft...I just wanted to tell you...Heero's been hurt. Relena's with him, but she's okay."   
  
Millardo looked back down. "That's..." He stopped short. "They'll take them to St. Luke's. It's...closest." With a sudden burst of energy, he grabbed his phone and stood up. "Can you go there? Tell Relena...I had something to take care of."   
  
Hilde blinked. "Um...of course. But..." He was already gone, heading off the stage. She sighed. A second later, a hand touched her shoulder, making her jump the proverbial mile. "Oh, god!!"  
  
"Hey...babe! I'm sorry." Duo turned her around to face him. "I didn't mean to scare you."  
  
"Duo..." She threw her arms around his neck, hugging him with every bit of strength she had. "Are you okay?"  
  
"It was just a scratch. The nice lady gave me a band-aid." Hilde pulled back, wary of his casual attitude. "Okay...she said I needed probably some stitches." Duo pointed to the temporary gauze bandaged wrapped around his arm. "But...enough about me. What's going on back..."  
  
Hilde's eyes brimmed over with tears. "Look behind you," she whispered.   
  
He did so, a ball of nausea sitting at the pit of his stomach. His fist curled up as the paramedic team rushed past them, heading out the nearest emergency exit. Seeing Heero laid out on a stretcher...Relena walking beside him, holding his hand and covered in his blood...  
  
"That guy did this," Duo said a moment after they disappeared through the double doors. He turned his glare back to the far end of the stage where the police were leading the suspect away. "Who the fuck is he? Some psycho off the streets?"  
  
"His name is Jean-Paul Chevalier." Sally approached the couple, her arm securely intertwined with Wufei's. "He's a well-respected ballet instructor and scout for Theatre Ballet of Paris."   
  
Hilde frowned. "Paris..."  
  
"Relena took classes there before she came here," Duo supplied. "I don't understand..."  
  
"I don't think anyone does." The older dancer sighed and laid her cheek on her lover's shoulder. "Except maybe..." She made a vague gesture to the doors through which Heero had just been taken.   
  
Duo looked towards the back of the theatre suddenly. Two men entered on the Mezzanine level. A tall, lanky youth and his delicate blonde companion; they stared down at the stage in disbelief. "I can think of another couple who might."  
  
****  
  
Heero's heart stopped beating halfway between Lincoln Center and St. Luke's Hospital. By the time the doors opened into the medical center's ambulance bay, the paramedics had gotten it started again and claimed that everything was going to be all right.   
  
But Relena was already in a state of shock that no words of comfort seemed able to relieve. She couldn't hold his hand while they were shocking his heart back to life; all she could do was watch his beloved body jerk and wait for the lines on the temporary monitor to spike back from flatline.   
  
They rolled him into the emergency room, the paramedics shouting vital signs to the doctors, the doctors shouting orders to the nurses and the nurses gently, but with firm resolve, pushing Relena towards the waiting area.   
  
"We'll tell you the moment we know anything for sure," they repeated, completely un-reassuringly. But Relena sank into a hard, plastic chair at their prompting without any protest. It was in this exact spot, this exact position that Hilde, Duo, Trowa and Quatre found her a half-hour later.   
  
"Princess!" Duo spotted her first and ran over. He dropped into the chair on her right side. "Princess..."  
  
Relena blinked out of a trance-like state. "Duo." She looked over at him. "Hi." Her voice was lower than a whisper.   
  
"Are you all right, princess?"  
  
Her eyes closed, pushing hot tears down her pale cheeks. "Heero..." She opened her eyes. "He's so hurt, Duo..."  
  
"But he's going to be all right," Hilde spoke up. Tentatively, she took the empty seat on her left. "Heero's really, really strong. He's going to make it, no question."   
  
The blonde girl lowered her chin to look down at her stained hands. "There was so much blood," she stated. After a moment, she realized the rip in her dress was nearly exposing her breasts once again. With half-hearted movements, she tugged at the cloth.  
  
"Here..." Hilde instinctively reached to help her.   
  
Relena met her eyes for a brief second. "Thank you."  
  
Standing a few feet away, leaning back against Trowa's chest for solidity, a tear escaped Quatre's eye. This was where secrets had brought them to. If only he had reported Jean-Paul months earlier, they would not be here right now. He closed his eyes in self-disgust.   
  
"Do not do that," Trowa murmured into his ear. "Do not go blaming yourself, Little One."   
  
"I could have done something to stop all of this," Quatre replied. "I should have taken care of our Relena."  
  
"You have always taken care of me, my friend." Relena's sudden switch to French caught Duo and Hilde off-guard. "No one is to blame for all of this but me." She repeated the phrase in English.   
  
Duo frowned. "Don't even think that. You're not the psycho with the knife."  
  
Relena shook her head. "You don't understand, Duo."   
  
"I think it's starting to come together, princess." He glanced at the French couple. "Bits and pieces from them...things you've said...ways you've reacted to certain things..."   
  
"You might get it, but you still don't understand." She tucked her hands underneath her arms for warmth. "If I had been stronger...fought back..." Her chin turned towards the direction the medical professionals had wheeled Heero away. "He wouldn't be hurt." Relena looked back at Duo. "I did this to him, just as much as if I'd been the one to stab him. And you can't make that go away just by saying it isn't true."  
  
There wasn't anything else to say; she wouldn't have listened to any of it, anyway. Duo simply pulled at her arm until he could hold her hand. Hilde took her other one. Quatre and Trowa stood watch over them all. Twenty minutes later, Relena realized just how much she needed all four people around her when a doctor, wearing green scrubs with several suspicious patters of dark stains on them, approached the waiting area.  
  
"Relena Dorlian." He called out the name she had given to the EMT in the ambulance. Once she stood up on weak knees, the doctor continued. "We've taken your friend, Heero, up to emergency surgery. I don't have to tell you that he's lost a tremendous amount of blood and that's mostly due to the fact that the knife has probably pierced his spleen. Surgery will hopefully repair that damage, although there is the possibility that the surgeon may have to remove the organ entirely to save him. Of course, the possibility of damage to other organs is also very high; we just don't know for sure right now." The doctor paused. "The paramedics told me that you said he has no family in the city."  
  
"His father..." She swallowed. "...is in Hong Kong. His mother is dead." Relena stared up at the doctor. "Is Heero going to die?"  
  
"The best surgeons are with him right now and they'll do everything in their power to..."   
  
"Please just answer my question."   
  
The man looked down at the chart in his hand. "I won't lie to you, Miss Dorlian. He might not make it through surgery." He glanced back up. "I'm sorry."   
  
Because Relena could not talk, Duo asked the ER doctor, "Can we go to surgery and wait for him?"   
  
"A nurse will show you the way." The doctor gave them all a sympathetic look. "Again...I'm sorry."   
  
As the man walked away, Duo pulled a shaking Relena against his chest. "Princess...Heero's gonna beat this. You know that right?"   
  
Hilde bit her lip. "He will. I just know it."  
  
Their words, while well-meant and appreciated, failed to impact Relena's guilt. She pulled away from Duo a moment later to seek the comfort of Quatre and Trowa. "I can't live without him," she cried in French. Her words became muffled by Quatre's tuxedo jacket. "I can't....I just can't..." She clutched to his lapels; they, as well as the French couple's arms, were the only things keeping her from crumpling into a pile on the floor.   
  
*It's all my fault* a voice inside her head screamed to the higher powers who dictated such things. *It's all my fault, but please!! Please don't take him away from me!*  
  
****  
  
Across the city, Millardo Peacecraft stood in the open parlor door of his Park Avenue penthouse, watching a NYPD medical examiner tuck his mother into a black body bag.   
  
The evening's events became too much to bear in those few moments. As they carried Helen out of the apartment, leaving only a white tape outline of her on his Oriental carpet, Millardo escaped into the hall bathroom.   
  
When his stomach was empty, he sat back against the cold, tiled wall and pulled his cell-phone out of his coat. He dialed from memory and waited with numb patience until the person on the other end picked up. '  
  
"Lu," he began in a low tone. "No...I'm fine. Yes. I know about Heero." There was a long pause. "My mother is dead." Another pause followed, broken only by the soft, shocked sobs on the other end. "Lu...go ahead and tell the class. The company for next year will include Susanna Holmes, Patrick Keating, Rika Yoshikawa, Duo Maxwell..." He took a breath. "Relena Dorlian and Heero Yuy." He smiled halfway. "What....were you expecting differently?"  
  
****  
  
To Be Continued 


	28. I just died in your arms tonight

Disclaimer: If they're not mine by now, wishing will not make them so.  
  
Author's Notes: "The end is pretty seriously nigh." Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Great show. Thank you all for the continued, incredible support. It means very, very much to me.   
  
****  
  
To Dance Beneath the Diamond Sky  
by Kristen Elizabeth  
  
****  
  
"Dancing is the last word in life." -Jean Dubuffet  
  
****  
  
"All right, Relena. You can move now." The X-ray technician came back around the glass partition as Relena eased herself off the cold, metal table. "The results should be back in an hour or so. I'll have them sent up to the surgical floor. That's where you'll be, right? Until then..." He handed her the crutches a nurse had given her down in the ER. "Put as little pressure on that knee as possible."   
  
She nodded listlessly and fitted the padded arms of the crutches under her own. "Thank you."   
  
Quatre and Trowa were waiting for her. "What did the doctor say?" Quatre asked as she made her way over to them.   
  
"I do not see the need for these." Relena handed Trowa the crutches and tried not to wince as she put all her weight on the knee in question. "I am fine."   
  
He handed them back to her. "Only a fool would injure themselves further for the sake of their pride. You are not a fool."  
  
Relena looked down at the white tiled floor. "How is it fair, Trowa? Crutches can fix me. But Heero...he might never be fixed."   
  
"It is not fair, cher." Quatre pulled her into his arms for a comforting hug. But Relena had no more desire to be comforted. As gently as possible, she pulled away from him.   
  
"I need to get back upstairs. The surgery could be over at any time."   
  
The elevator carried them back up to the fourteenth floor of St. Luke's, where Duo and Hilde were waiting, keeping up an eight hour vigil that Relena had been forced to break to have her own injuries checked out. They waited with as much calm patience as possible for any news of Heero's surgery, good or bad.   
  
"Princess." Duo jogged over to them as the trio came into the surgical waiting area. "No one's come out to say anything yet. But your brother is looking for you."  
  
"Millardo is here?"  
  
He nodded and pointed to the bank of phones several yards away. "He's over there with Ms. Noin."  
  
Relena followed his finger until she could see her brother and his fiancee. Millardo was bent over in a plastic chair, his head buried in his hands. Lucrezia had her arms around him, rubbing his back. Relena swallowed. "What did he want?" she asked Duo.  
  
"To talk to you," Hilde replied for her boyfriend. "He didn't say what about though."  
  
Every inner voice she possessed told her to stay right where she was, but Relena forced herself to nod again. Re-adjusting her grip on her crutches, she started towards her family members.   
  
Duo watched her approach them. He couldn't hear anything; they were too far away. Millardo and Lucrezia looked up at Relena. After what Duo assumed was a greeting, the company director began to speak to his little sister.   
  
A minute later, Relena fainted.   
  
****  
  
The first thing he was aware of was pain. It was nothing compared to the initial pain of being stabbed, but it was strong enough to rouse him out of the darkness. His entire lower back throbbed with enough pressure to bring moisture to his eyes. Eyes that he opened a moment later.   
  
Another pair of eyes stared back at him. They, too, were wet with tears. Relena's eyes, weeping over him. He tried to speak, to say her name, but there was something lodged in his throat. His brow furred.   
  
"Heero." Her fingers were cool against his cheek; for a moment, he forgot all about the pain. "It's all right. Someone's coming to take that out; it was helping you breathe during surgery."   
  
Surgery. He must have been in the darkness for a long time. The last clear memory he had was of her telling him not to close his eyes. He hadn't won that fight, apparently.   
  
"You're in the hospital," she continued, although her voice barely made it above a whisper. "Do you remember...everything that happened in the locker room?"   
  
He nodded as much as he could. Relena looked as though she were about to go on, but just then a doctor entered the room.   
  
"Heero," the unfamiliar man said, leaning over him. "Good to see you back with us. I have a lot to tell you, but first, let's get rid of this thing." With quick, expert movements, he detached the blue tube that lead to the intubation device from the mouthpiece. There was a rush of air. "Okay..." The man grasped the mouthpiece. "On my count, exhale. One...two...three." He yanked on the tube, pulling it out of Heero's throat.   
  
Relena bit her lip as Heero coughed for a long minute. "What..." His attempt to speak came out as a wheeze. "What happened?"  
  
"You came in late last night with a very deep stab wound to your lower back. You had lost a lot of blood. Fortunately we were able to get you into surgery in time to repair the damage to your liver. But..." The doctor hesitated. "I'm sorry to say we weren't able to save your spleen which took the brunt of the attack."  
  
Heero closed his eyes. "Relena...are you all right?"  
  
He could feel her fingers entwine with his. "Thanks to you, I'm just..." Her throat closed up. "...fine. I'm fine. Don't worry about me."  
  
"We're going to keep you here in the ICU for another twenty-four hours, Heero." The doctor picked up his chart which hung from the end of the bed. "And then we'll move you into another room for probably about a week, depending on how quickly you heal. I have to tell you, there is a possibility that there could be complications from the surgery. Embolisms, bowel obstructions, hernias. But that's why we're going to monitor you very carefully for awhile."  
  
"Thank you, Doctor," Relena said. "Can we have a few minutes alone?"   
  
The man replaced the chart after scribbling something onto it. "You're lucky, Heero. Not many of my patients have a guardian angel who is as pretty as yours." He smiled. "I'll be back to check on you in a few hours."   
  
Once the doctor was gone, Relena let her tears fall freely. "Heero...I was so afraid that I was going to lose you..."   
  
He wanted to put his arms around her and hold her until the end of time, but the pain was too great to even move his arms. "Tell me...everything."   
  
When she had finished recounting the events of the fourteen hours he had missed, Heero had only one question. "The French bastard?"  
  
"The police have him," she said softly. "He...we won't be bothered by him ever again."   
  
He frowned. "There's something...you're not telling me."   
  
Relena looked away for a long minute. "He killed my mother."   
  
"Relena..." She glanced back at him upon hearing her name. His eyes, though burdened by his own pain, held so much sympathy and compassion. "I'm sorry."   
  
"There's no reason for you to be," Relena whispered, stroking his cheek again. "He'll pay for everything. For what he did to my mother....for what he almost did to you."  
  
"And what he tried to do to you." Heero closed his eyes as the pain overthrew his mental block.   
  
She reached for the call button on his bed. "Let me get a nurse to give you more pain medication." He didn't refuse the offer. "Heero, is there a way to get in touch with your father?"   
  
"I have...a number." He gritted his teeth. "He won't come."  
  
"Heero..."  
  
"I don't care," her boyfriend continued, opening his eyes. "I...have you."   
  
Relena's eyes watered. "Forever," she whispered. "I almost lost you tonight, Heero. And I nearly died imagining my life without you."   
  
"I'll never...leave you."   
  
She smiled through her tears. "I know that now." Relena leaned forward, brushing her lips against his. "By the way...we made the company."   
  
The tight corners of Heero's mouth turned up. "Of course we...did. We're...the best."   
  
The nurse who entered awhile later with a hypodermic of Demerol had to pause a moment to take in the scene before her. The young blonde girl with a brace on her knee was lying as gently as possible next to the dark-haired surgical patient. Their fingers were laced together, their foreheads touched as they both indulged in a few moments of sleep after their hellish night. The woman sighed to herself. To have found that sort of love so young...  
  
Some people had all the luck.  
  
****  
  
After a stop at Hilde's place in Brooklyn to pick up a change of clothing, she and Duo arrived at his parent's apartment. His mother met them at the door in a state of near panic. Once Duo had assured both her and his father that he was alright, despite the four stitches on his arm, the teenagers took turns retelling the entire story, as much as they themselves knew.   
  
Sarah, who was on the one hand relieved to the point of tears that her son wasn't injured, and on the other, overwhelmed by the tragedies that had befallen his friends, immediately set about preparing a huge amount of food. The only thing she was able to control was making sure Duo and his girlfriend were properly fed. Although eventually she would have to find out how it had come about that Hilde was back in their lives, holding Duo's hand like he was her life-preserver. Not that she or Robert minded. In spite of everything that had happened, their son looked more alive than he had in weeks.   
  
Duo and Hilde escaped to his room a couple of hours later. They were alone in the apartment; Robert had taken his wife out for a much-needed distraction. There was an art show in Central Park, he claimed. Also, he could tell that what his son needed was a moment alone with his girlfriend to come to terms with the past evening, not the well-intentioned smothering he was receiving from his mother.   
  
"Did you ever meet Relena's mother?" Hilde asked, sitting on the edge of Duo's neatly-made bed, obviously his mother's doing.  
  
"Just saw her across the lobby at the gala," he replied with a sigh. "Seems like a fucking lifetime ago."   
  
"It does, yeah." She glanced down at her hands. "It's so sad, though. And I still don't get why that guy...why he tried to destroy...everyone!"  
  
Duo leaned awkwardly against his desk. "I think that guy...raped Relena. Or tried to. Something like that. Back in Paris. Remember how she used to freak out when I'd touch her?"  
  
Hilde nodded. "God...we were so mean to her! I was....such a bitch. I didn't realize..."  
  
"I guess Heero must have known. It pretty much explains everything." He rubbed his forehead. "So, the fucker came here to New York and I guess he tried it again last night. He must really hate Relena...how can anyone hate Relena, especially that much?! I just don't understand!" His fist balled up; he slammed it down onto a stack of textbooks.   
  
"I don't think it was hate," Hilde whispered, remembering the French man's desperate cries for Relena. "Love, maybe. Obsession, definitely." She shook her head. "Scary..."  
  
"Yeah." Duo relaxed his fist. "At least Heero's gonna be all right."   
  
Hilde nodded. "And you..." Her smile was soft. "Congratulations on making the company."  
  
Her boyfriend's sculpted shoulders lifted in casual indifference. "It doesn't seem to matter much anymore. Actually, it never really mattered all that much. To me, anyways."  
  
"What do you mean?" She tilted her head to the side. "Duo, dancing is such a big part of your life. It's the future we always talked about having together. And now it's here for you. How can you say it doesn't matter?"  
  
"I love dancing, yeah. But if you think I've stuck with it all these years just for the thrill of wearing tights, you're wrong." He met her gaze. "Hilde, I danced because you danced. It's what brought us together."  
  
Hilde licked her lips. "And now I can't dance. Not like I used to. My therapist says my ankle is getting stronger every day, but it'll never be able to support me like that again." She stood up. "But Duo...that shouldn't stop you."   
  
"I don't have the heart for it anymore, babe." He smiled brightly. "Without you, it's just a hobby."   
  
"So...you're going to..."  
  
"Turn down the offer."  
  
She stared at him. "Just like that?"  
  
"I have a back-up plan," he said, reaching into his desk drawer and pulling out a single sheet of folded paper. "NYU, babe. They want me like a junkie wants a hit." After a moment of silence, Hilde began to laugh. Duo frowned. "What? They do! They keep sending me orientation packets and housing shit."   
  
"I'm not laughing at you, Duo," she managed to get out between her giggles. "It's just..." She took a breath to calm herself. "They want me just as bad."  
  
He double blinked. Twice. "You're going to NYU?"  
  
Hilde nodded. "I must've gotten my acceptance letter around the time you got yours. It makes sense. We applied together, remember?"  
  
"Oh...yeah! I do remember that." Duo broke into a wide grin. "We're going to NYU, babe. Together!" In his excitement, he pulled her into his arms for a huge hug.   
  
She wrapped her arms around his neck. "I love you, Duo." Thinking of Heero hanging onto his life by a thread and Relena by his side through it all, Hilde buried her face in her boyfriend's shoulder. "I'm not ever going to be stupid enough to pull away from you again. I swear."  
  
Duo closed his eyes, savoring the feeling of her lithe body in his arms. There had to be a god up there somewhere and it had to be a good one. It was a miracle that she was back in his life. "Good. 'Cause if there's ever a next time, I don't plan on letting you go."   
  
Hilde lifted her head. "How long do you think your parents are going to be gone?"   
  
"Couple of hours, I guess." His eyes grew wide from the myriad of dirty thoughts that suddenly plagued him. "Why?"  
  
"I can't do much until I get this cast off." She stared up at him from behind thick, black lashes. "But I have missed touching you..."   
  
Duo cleared his throat. "And I've missed...touching...being touched....in a good way! Missed the bad way, too...."  
  
She smothered a giggle. "When the cast does come off, I want to make love with you, Duo. Until then..." Hilde bent her head to kiss his Adam's apple. "Bad touching?"  
  
"Bad touching, good," Duo agreed, pausing only momentarily to lament the de-evolution of his language skills. "You... me..."  
  
"On bed," Hilde finished for him. "But the Tarzan thing is a little kinky for me."   
  
Duo scooped her up into his arms. "Don't worry, Jane. My lair has sheets from Bergdorf Goodman's."   
  
She laughed as he deposited her onto his "lair." A moment later, he joined her, careful to hold himself up over her body. Hilde ran her fingers through his bangs. "It's a good thing I got to you first, Duo. A normal girl could never handle you."  
  
He lowered his mouth to hers. Breaking for breath, he gave her a smile of pure love. "A normal girl would never hold my interest. Much less steal my whole heart and soul."   
  
"Is that what I've done?" Her entire body tingled, not only from the passionate words, but from the delicious warmth he radiated.   
  
"You know it." Duo kissed her again, taking his time to enjoy the warm taste of her lips. "What do you have to say for yourself?"  
  
Hilde closed her eyes; his kisses were moving down her jaw towards her throat. "No shame on me..."  
  
****  
  
It had taken a doctor, her brother, a gay French couple and Heero himself to convince Relena to leave the ICU for some much needed rest and rejuvenation. She hadn't been able to bear the thought of going back to the penthouse where her mother's body had been found, strangled to death. Quatre and Trowa had taken her back to their suite at the Plaza; the hotel's expensive clothing boutique had sent up a simple summer dress in her size at Quatre's request.   
  
Once she had bathed, dressed, and forced down several bites of food she couldn't even taste, Relena wanted nothing more than to return to Heero's side. But a phone call from Millardo delayed that; she was expected at the police station to make a statement against Jean-Paul.   
  
Her friends stayed with her through the ordeal at the station. As she finally told the entire story of the terror that had seized her life back in Paris, Relena could feel the past releasing her. With each word, Jean-Paul's power over her was broken. She had survived him. Heero had survived him. Her mother had not.  
  
Her grief seemed to be on some sort of delay. Every time she pictured Helen, Relena's insides twisted up. She had been an alcoholic, obsessed with recapturing a non-existent past through her daughter, a fortune-hunter who had sucked both Relena and Millardo's fathers almost completely dry. And she had been a horrible judge of character. For that, she had paid the ultimate price.   
  
Relena couldn't hate her. But neither could she stop living in order to mourn her.   
  
Finally, the questions ended and she was free to go, to head back to the hospital. Heero needed her and she needed to see him as though to convince herself that he really was going to be just fine. She tapped her foot in extreme impatience as the elevator carried her up to the ICU floor.   
  
She had made only one stop between the police station and the hospital. The cab had passed a costume shop on the way; she had made the cabbie wait while she ran inside to make a hasty purchase. Now, she clutched a shopping bag containing a fake mustache for Heero and a long black wig for herself.   
  
If he thought they were Gomez and Morticia before, she couldn't wait to see his face when she dressed them both up.  
  
She approached the ICU desk and smiled at the nurse. "Is it all right if I go in to see Heero Yuy?"  
  
"Heero Yuy." The woman looked down at her charts. "Oh. I'm so sorry to be the one to tell you this."  
  
A cold hand squeezed Relena's heart. "Tell me what?"  
  
"About an hour ago...he threw a P.E. Pulmonary embolism. Blood clot in his lungs," she explained. "They took him back into surgery to try and fix it."  
  
She couldn't make her own lungs work for a long moment. "Will he...will he be okay?"  
  
"I wish I could tell you," the nurse replied, apologetically. "Complications are always harder to correct than the initial problem." She stood up upon seeing the blood literally drain out of the blonde girl's face. "Let me help you sit down."   
  
Relena didn't protest and let the woman lead her back to the row of chairs where she had spent fourteen hours dying inside while Heero fought for his life. Just when she had been sure they had won, life had thrown them right back down.   
  
The plastic bag slipped out of her hands and landed on the floor between her feet. The quiet hum of the hospital was shattered by her sudden, heart-wrenching scream.   
  
****  
  
To Be Continued 


	29. Say goodbye

Disclaimer: Check the past 28 chapters...  
  
Author's Notes: I felt compelled to put this chapter up the second it was done, spell-checked and proof-read, lest I be accused, even more, of stretching the story out. I'm sorry if that's what it seemed like I was doing, but truly, I tell stories as they come to me. Nothing more, nothing less. Thank you for all the kind words and encouragement;)   
  
****  
  
To Dance Beneath the Diamond Sky  
by Kristen Elizabeth  
  
****  
  
"Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust."   
  
A warm breeze blew over the cemetery, ruffling the elaborate flowers that decorated the casket. It was a lovely place to be buried, Relena thought numbly. As far as she could see there was only green, like Central Park only less contrived somehow. Live in Manhattan, be buried in Queens. Everyone did it. Heero's own mother lay in rest somewhere nearby. Had she possessed more energy, she might have sought out the woman's grave.   
  
The funeral was drawing to a close; Millardo's hand on the black silk sleeve of her blouse indicated for her to stand up. She did so without feeling. It was just a motion everyone expected her to perform.   
  
"We commend this soul into God's loving hands," the minister said, closing up his Bible. "Rest in peace."  
  
Relena threw her handful of dirt into the open grave with the same detached movements. She longed for Quatre and Trowa's comforting presence, but the beginning of their contracts with the Paris Ballet had cut their visit short before the funeral. At least Duo and Hilde were there, waiting now by the limousine as she paused for a moment at the freshly cut headstone.   
  
She ran a hand over the marble. "Goodbye." With the simple farewell, Relena turned and headed up the gently sloping hill to the grey gravel path. She didn't turn for one last look at the grave. She merely slid into the backseat of the shiny black limo and waited for her friends and family to do the same.   
  
"How are you holding up, Princess?" Duo asked once he was seated across from her.   
  
"I'm all right," Relena replied tonelessly. She watched Hilde next to Duo, holding his hand ever so discreetly. "It was a nice service."  
  
"Yeah." The dark-haired girl nodded. "Very nice."   
  
When Millardo and Noin were settled into the limo, the door closed and they lurched forward heading for the cemetery's exit and the bridge that would take them back into their city. A few minutes passed in silence. When the tiny cell phone in her little black purse rang a moment later, Relena jumped.   
  
"Hello?" she answered it when she had recovered from the slight shock.  
  
"I couldn't wait to call you any longer."  
  
Color touched Relena's cheeks again as she smiled. "Heero. Oh, god it's good to hear your voice."  
  
"The service is over?"  
  
She nodded, catching Duo's eye across the seat. He gave her a little wink. "Just a few minutes ago."  
  
"I'm sorry I couldn't be there with you."  
  
"You were," Relena assured him. "How are you feeling?"  
  
Heero let out a breath. "Better. Demerol is my new best friend."   
  
A chuckle escaped her lips. "I bet."   
  
"Are you coming to the hospital today?" There was a pause. "I mean, I'd understand if you didn't. I don't remember being able to do anything on the day of my mom's funeral."  
  
"Of course I'm coming to see you," Relena replied. "I'm just going to stop at home to change first. Black does not look good on me."  
  
She could almost see Heero shaking his head. "Everything looks good on you. I'll see you soon?"  
  
"Can't keep me away, Yuy." A moment later, she closed up her phone, her smile still firmly in place.  
  
"Are they really going to let him go on Sunday?" Hilde asked.   
  
Relena's expression grew even brighter, all the answer Hilde really needed. "He's doing absolutely great. With the way he's going, he'll be more than ready to start rehearsing with the company in August, Millardo."   
  
Her brother nodded, but he couldn't make himself smile. Lucrezia rested her cheek on his shoulder giving him all the comfort she could. After a moment, Millardo finally spoke. "I'm glad."  
  
The rest of the ride was quiet. In her heart, Relena mourned for her mother. But she had a feeling the period of grief was going to be short. Her friends were happy and well. Her career was laid out for her. Jean-Paul was rotting in jail, awaiting trial. And while the trial, set to start in January, would be an ordeal, it was one she would not have to go through alone.   
  
Her life with Heero, brought back from the brink of death twice, lay ahead of her, sparkling with promise. Although she still held her breath every time he winced in pain or closed his eyes too long while they talked, he was out of danger according to every doctor who examined him. The loss of his spleen seemed to be having no more adverse effects and they were even starting him on solid foods, which would be a relief. Heero did not like Jello and was not hesitant to let everyone know it.  
  
It was another hour before she arrived back at what had become her second home for the endless week between the night of the workshop and the day of her mother's funeral. Relena scolded herself for taking so long, but she hadn't been able to find the bag from the costume shop in the mess that had become her room. Once she had it, she had lingered over choosing her clothes.   
  
As she walked down the hospital hallway, she could see that the door to Heero's private room was open. Another doctor must be checking on him, Relena figured. She approached the door and peeked inside.   
  
Ethan Yuy was seated in his wheelchair which was drawn up fairly close to Heero's side. In the bed, her boyfriend had his arms crossed; the monitor hanging over him beeped in steady succession. Neither man noticed her. For a long time, there was nothing but silence.  
  
Finally, Heero spoke. "Is that all you came here to say?"  
  
"I flew all night from Hong Kong, boy." Ethan's tone was sharp. But, Relena realized, it was also sober.  
  
"Should I be impressed by that?"   
  
The older man lowered his head for a brief moment. "When did it get so tough to talk to you?"  
  
"Maybe around the time you started calling me your little faggot." Heero looked away towards the window.   
  
There was another, painful pause between father and son. "I tried to get on a plane as soon as I heard what happened," Ethan said. "But I thought..." He cleared his throat. "I thought you might do better off without me here."  
  
"I've been surviving just fine on my own for long time," Heero agreed with him. A moment ticked by. "But it still would have been...acceptable to have you in the city."   
  
"I'm sorry." The words were so unexpected that Heero had to whip his head back around as though seeing whatever look was on his father's face would be the only way to confirm they had really been uttered.  
  
Her boyfriend blinked, dumbfounded. "What?"  
  
"Ballet took your mother away from me," his father started. It was obvious he had given the words some thought, perhaps even rehearsed them over and over again. And while it might not have been the most opportune time, the older man was determined to get them out. "She wanted to have you...more than anything. But babies change a woman's body. She thought she could go back to what she loved after you were born...her dancing. And she couldn't." He raised his shoulders. "Eventually...she couldn't stand living anymore."   
  
"Why are you telling me this? You've only spoken two words to me in the past ten years and one of them has been 'faggot,' but you're dumping all of this onto me now?? Why?" The hurt in Heero's voice made Relena want to run inside and throw her arms around him. But her feet stayed firmly planted in place as Ethan continued.  
  
"You deserve to know...why I've been the way...I've been. When you decided to start dancing, just like her..." He stopped, shaking his head. "It became your entire life. Again, just like your mother."  
  
Heero's eyes narrowed. "Was that wrong of me? To want to be part of something she loved so much?"  
  
"No. But it was the only thing you cared about, boy. And that's fucking dangerous." Ethan wheeled even closer to the bed. "I don't have a goddamn right to lay this all on you now, especially after the way I've treated you. I didn't even get how bad I am when I drink until your little girlfriend came by looking for you one night." He chuckled. "She's got a backbone, that one. And what she said stung. Anyways..." Ethan took a breath. "Nothing mattered to your mother but dancing. Not me, not even you. Don't imitate her like that, boy. 'Cause if you ever lost it...I'd lose you, too."   
  
"You lost me years ago." There was a pause. "Why wasn't I enough for her?"  
  
"You probably were. She just couldn't see it. But she did love you in her own way. Hell, she left you everything she had. And she kept it away from me. Good thing, too."   
  
His son echoed the assertion. "A very good thing."   
  
Ethan backed up a bit. "You've been trying to get rid of me since I got here, not that I can blame you, so I'm gonna go. By the way...." He stopped his wheels. "There was a message on the voice mail for you from a real estate agent. He said he's got a list of apartments for you to look at whenever you get a chance. I take it you're moving out?"  
  
Heero nodded, but he was obviously not thinking about anything except the new revelations concerning his mother.   
  
"I understand," Ethan said. "I can't blame you, boy. I hope though...that I'll still see you around."   
  
"You could always come to the ballet and watch me prance in my tights."  
  
The older man smiled sadly. "That's fine with me." He began to wheel himself towards the door; Relena quickly ducked out of sight.   
  
"Dad," Heero called out. Ethan turned his wheelchair back around. "Don't worry. I have more than just dancing in my life now."   
  
His father nodded before resuming his exit. In the hallway, Relena spun around until her back was facing his direction, but the man didn't even seem to notice her. When she turned a moment later, he was wheeling himself down the hall and out of his son's life.   
  
She let a minute slip by before she reached out and knocked on the open door. When she moved into his sight, she caught him wiping under his eyes with the hand that was connected to the IV bag. "Heero? Are you all right?"  
  
"Did you see him leave as you came in?"   
  
Relena nodded, approaching his bed. "Do you want to talk about it?"  
  
"Later, yeah." Heero looked up at her. "Why are you so beautiful?"   
  
A blush tinged her cheeks and she busied herself with her shopping bag. "Gomez always thought Morticia was beautiful."   
  
"You know...I was pretty much delirious when I said that..."  
  
Relena shook her head, reaching into the bag. "Too late to take it back." She pulled out the fake mustache and wig. "Happy 1st week of recovery."   
  
Heero had to laugh as much as the healing wounds in his lower back from Jean-Paul's knife and chest from the surgeon's scalpel would let him. "I think we've found our Halloween costumes for this year. I want to wear pinstripes. And slick my hair back!"   
  
She lifted an eyebrow. "Loving that Demerol, aren't you?"  
  
"Almost as much as you," he replied flippantly.   
  
Tossing the wig and mustache aside, Relena carefully crawled into Heero's wide hospital bed, snuggling up against his good side. They lay in silence for endless minutes, her hand lightly resting on his arm, the only place she could think of touching that wouldn't bring him any pain. His full recovery wouldn't happen for a long while; until then, Relena was just happy being allowed to touch him at all, in any little way.   
  
After a half-hour had slipped by, Heero turned his head to press his lips, dry from the blessed pain meds, against her temple. "Relena..."  
  
"Hmm?" Her eyes were closed in perfect content.   
  
"Can you reach the TV remote?"  
  
Her eyes opened. "You want to watch TV?"  
  
He looked almost sheepish. "It's the drugs and I'll deny it to anyone else, but I'm kinda hooked on 'The View'."   
  
Relena sat up and stared down at her boyfriend. "Where can *I* get some of these drugs?"   
  
"Mocking the man with open chest wounds is not nice."  
  
Trying to fight back her laughter, Relena plucked the remote off the rolling tray, which had been pushed to one side, to accommodate Ethan's wheelchair, she assumed. She turned on the little TV that was suspended from the far wall.   
  
"...police have a suspect in custody in the botched bank robbery that took place on Monday afternoon at the Union Trust on West 53rd St..."  
  
Heero frowned. "Channel 10. Channel 10. Channel 10."  
  
Relena lowered the remote to her lap. "I'm bringing a camcorder next time I come. You have got to see yourself hyped up on these..."  
  
He pressed his fingers against her mouth. "You wouldn't."  
  
"Why's that?"  
  
"Because..." Heero thought for a moment. "You love me."  
  
"All right. Got me there." She glanced back up at the screen. The picture next to the anchor's head changed from a shot of the Union Trust bank to a picture of a pair of toe shoes. Her interest peaked, Relena nudged up the volume.  
  
"In other local news, the man accused in the strangulation death of society matron Helen Peacecraft-Dorlian, as well as the attempted murder and attempted rape of two Ballet Conservatory students last week was found dead early today, having taken his own life by hanging himself from the bars of his cell on Riker's Island. Jean-Paul Chevalier of Paris, France was arraigned on Wednesday, pleading not guilty by reason of insanity to two charges of sexual battery, assault, attempted murder and murder in the second degree. His trial was set to start early in the new year. The French embassy has agreed to ship his body back to Paris for..."  
  
Heero turned his head to look at his girlfriend. She was staring up at the monitor without blinking, but the tremble that rocked her slender frame gave away her state of mind. "Relena..." He reached for her hand, only to find it ice-cold.   
  
"It's over," she whispered. "He..."  
  
"He's gone," Heero finished for her. "He can never, ever hurt you again."   
  
She shook her head; the gentle swishing sound of her long hair against her skin drowned out the news anchor's words. "He took so much from me, Heero. And he tried to take even more. He tried to take you away from me."  
  
"He didn't win."  
  
Relena lowered her chin. His hand, which covered hers, was marred by the plastic IV needle that ran into the vein behind his middle knuckle. She stared at the implement as she spoke. "Yes, he did. Now...because of this...he's won. He took one final thing from me, the only thing he could. My opportunity to see him pay for it all."   
  
He could sense her tears even before he could see them. Ignoring his own pain, he lifted her face back up and over to look into his. "It might seem like that, Relena. But in some way, he will answer for everything he's done. And really...you're the one who's won. You're the one who survived."  
  
"We survived," she whispered. Staring into the bottomless depths of his eyes, his words suddenly hit her. She had won. She would get to live her life and explore her love for Heero. Jean-Paul had taken much, but Relena had held on to far more. "You and I, Heero."  
  
"You and I," Heero echoed. With easy motions as not to pull any stitches, he reached for the abandoned mustache.   
  
Relena tried to grab it. "Don't...it's not sterile..." But he had already pushed the costume piece into place over the oxygen tube that ran under his nose. "Heero, I don't think you should have..."  
  
He silenced her by plopping the long wig onto her head. Her blonde silk mixed with the fake black locks. "Wow..." Heero said.  
  
"What?" She patted the wig. "Does it look that bad?"  
  
"No. It just looks..." He snickered, something he had never done and probably would never do again. "It looks like you really need to do your roots."  
  
Incised protests and drug-inspired laughter floated out into the hospital hallway, an affirmation of life, love and survival in the least likeliest of places.  
  
****  
  
To Be Continued 


	30. And we're dancing

Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me; I simply extracted them from one world and plopped them into one of my own creation.  
  
Author's Notes: To follow the story.  
  
Dedication: This has always been Melissa's story. But somewhere along the way, she gained a passenger in her body. So now it's for Melissa, my surrogate sister and Ali, who will be my well-spoiled surrogate niece.  
  
****  
  
To Dance Beneath the Diamond Sky  
by Kristen Elizabeth  
  
****  
  
One year later  
  
Relena turned on the shower as hot as it would go without blistering her skin. When the water started coming out at the perfect temperature, she let the towel around her body fall to the tiled floor and stepped inside the glass enclosure.   
  
She sighed as the water pounded on the delicate muscles at the back of her neck, working out the kinks and sore spots. It was her daily ritual, one she had come to depend on. It relaxed her for the day ahead. And usually, if she was lucky....or if it happened to be a day that ended in 'y'....she wouldn't be alone for long.  
  
The cool rush of air from outside the protective glass walls hit her body first. It would have been chilly and unwelcome had she not immediately felt his strong arms circling her bare torso. The shower door closed behind him.   
  
"Morning," Heero murmured into her wet hair.   
  
Relena smiled and turned around to see her lover. He was looking down at her with sleep-heavy eyes; the faintest hint of stubble covered his chin. "I tried not to wake you."   
  
The water slowly began to plaster down his long bangs as he kissed her. She could taste the mint of toothpaste on his tongue. "The water's nice..." he commented.   
  
"Very," she whispered, running her hands up his muscled frame, newly slick with moisture. Her fingers paused on his scars. The short, thick one that cut across his lower left side and the longer, thinner surgical incision that ran down his chest....they were reminders of the past that he would always carry with him.   
  
But they would never slow him down, as he had more than proven in the year since the night that changed their lives. He had worked his way through physical therapy without complaint and in plenty of time to claim his new position in the Ballet Conservatory's main company. But, as he often made known, he could have never done it without the woman who was, at that moment, pouring shampoo into her palm and working up a lather meant for his hair.  
  
They had moved into the little apartment in Chelsea, not too far from Duo's parents' loft, almost immediately after graduation. Millardo had grumbled for several months about his sister "playing house," but as luck would have it, around that time Lucrezia's pregnancy began to show and his attention was turned to more important things. Relena was finally left alone to enjoy living with Heero.   
  
Not that it was all sunshine and roses. In the grand tradition of his gender, Heero almost always forgot to put the toilet seat down, he left empty pizza boxes in the fridge for days and on very rare occasions, he snored. But the good things more than made up for the annoying. Having brunch in bed on Sunday mornings, holding hands on the subway going to rehearsals, waking in the middle of the night to make love by the moonlight...  
  
And, of course, their shower time. Relena combed her soapy fingers through his hair, smoothing out the tangles and lightly massaging his scalp. As she worked, Heero was exploring, although he already knew every square inch of her ballet-toned flesh. When his hand slipped between her thighs, Relena gave him a look. "We can't. We'll be late for..."  
  
But he had already lifted her into the air and pressed her back up against the tile wall. Wrapping her legs around his hips, he buried himself inside her before she could protest any further. Relena moaned softly; the warmth of the water and the heat of his body were incredible. "All right..." He slowly rocked his hips, nibbling on the notch of her throat. "But you're...making our excuses this...time."   
  
Heero smiled into her neck and slid his hands down her body to cup her bottom. "Shh...."   
  
Relena let him wash over her like the steady stream from the shower. She held onto his strong shoulders and rode the pleasure of his body until it became too much. Her loud cries were blissfully drowned out by the water. When the moment had peaked and faded for him, too, Heero slipped out of her body and set her back down on shaky legs. They kissed, slow and sweet, unlike the fast pace of their coupling.   
  
"We could just call in sick," he suggested, wiping dripping shampoo suds off his face. He was fully awake now, although still not entirely ready to start the day.  
  
"Funny how we only get sick on the exact same days." Laughing, Relena started lathering her own hair while Heero soaped her up with a sponge, paying particular attention to his favorite areas. "We can't let Hilde down. Her grade depends on us."   
  
Heero helped her run the water through her long locks while she scrubbed him down . Mostly he just liked feeling her hair between his fingers. "What kind of class is 'Theories and Techniques in Education' anyway?"  
  
"I would guess pretty much what it sounds like." After making sure they were both soap-free, she turned the water off and opened the glass door. "All I know is that she has to observe our rehearsal. But she can't do that if we're not at the studio."   
  
"Is Maxwell tagging along with her?"   
  
Relena winked as she threw a thick towel over his head. "Do they go anywhere without each other? Wait..." She pulled him down for another kiss. "Neither do we."  
  
He would have liked the kiss to go further; there were times when she turned him on so much that once was just not enough. But she made it clear by gently pulling away that she was serious. And that she'd make it up to him later.   
  
When they were dried, dressed (sweatpants and t-shirts over their leotards and tights), Heero had shaved and Relena had pinned up her hair, they pulled Pop-Tarts out of the cabinet, grabbed their rehearsal bags and walked, hand in hand, to the subway station. After a short ride spent feeding each other breakfast, they emerged back onto the streets, only this time much further uptown.   
  
The traffic was thick, but the nearest crosswalk was all the way down at the end of the block and the Conservatory lay directly across the street from the subway stairs. They waited for a moment as cars and cabs zipped by. Finally, Relena smiled at Heero. "Come on."  
  
She stepped off the curb, holding his hand. Heero glanced to his right on instinct. A city bus barreled towards her, seemingly unaware of his girlfriend's existence.   
  
"Relena!" he shouted. Without hesitation, he yanked on her arm, pulling her back onto the curb and against his body just as the bus whizzed past them. "Are you okay?!" he shouted through the noise of the street.  
  
"I didn't even see it..."   
  
Heero hugged her hard. "You've got to be careful, baby!"   
  
She nodded, her pretty face ashen from the close encounter. After spending the extra minutes to walk to the pedestrian crossing and back, they arrived at the Conservatory and ran up the stairs to the rehearsal studios, rather than waste time with the elevator. They burst into the small room reserved for their one-on-one choreography lesson with Lucrezia, just recently back at work after her maternity leave.  
  
Relena's new sister-in-law greeted them by handing over baby Graham and a patchwork bag of his things. "Punishment for being late. You get to change the kid."  
  
****  
  
Across town, Hilde was also running late. Duo sat on the edge of her twin bed and gave her roommate, who was eyeing him with a distinct look of interest, a forced smile. "How long has she been in there?"  
  
The girl, Jessica if he remembered her name correctly, glanced at the bathroom door that connected her and Hilde's dorm room to their suitemates. "I don't know."  
  
He pressed his thumbs together until his knuckles turned white. "Okay then." Another few minutes slipped by. "Hilde...babe," he called out. "We're late you know."  
  
"Just a sec!" Duo could hear a hair dryer being turned on; inwardly, he groaned and settled in for a long wait.   
  
He was beginning to doze, his chin had dropped down to his chest, when she finally appeared from the bathroom. Duo's eyes popped open and his head shot up. "Ready?"  
  
"You're so wonderfully patient, Duo," she remarked, dryly. All was forgiven a moment later when he gave her a soft kiss. "Morning to you, too."  
  
Duo held up a bag from Starbucks. "Breakfast at Tiffany's?" he suggested.   
  
"Breakfast on the cross-town express." Hilde grabbed her backpack and keys and pulled him towards the door. "Later, Jessie."   
  
They rode the bus from campus and arrived at the Conservatory only thirty minutes after Heero and Relena's rehearsal was set to have started. Hilde clutched her double latte a little tighter than necessary as she looked up at the familiar building.   
  
How much time had she spent inside of it? Endless hours of lessons and rehearsals. She had sweated, laughed, cried, and most importantly, danced. It was her first time returning to the Conservatory since the accident that had changed her entire future. Were it not for a major project due at the end of the term, she doubted she would even be standing where she was. Old emotions, the ones she had almost convinced herself that she had laid to rest, resurfaced. Raw. Painful. Suffocating...  
  
Duo took the cold coffee from her and tossed it into a street trash can. "You don't have to do this you know."   
  
She watched him; his ability to read her mind seemed completely natural. It was the connection they shared. It was the reason that he always knew just what she was going to order at a restaurant, or just how much she really disliked her roommate. It was also how he knew the exact way to make her body explode when they made love. He glanced back at her, eyebrows raised, waiting for her response.  
  
"It's too late to start a new project." Hilde straightened her shoulders. "Besides. My speciality is Dance Education. How can I teach little kids to dance if I can't even bear to be around real dancers?"  
  
"I just don't want you to push yourself, babe." His fingers threaded through hers.   
  
She graced him with her special smile as they started into the building. "Just keep holding my hand."   
  
****  
  
"Okay, Heero. Just like yesterday." Lucrezia walked across the rehearsal floor to her dancers. "It's a really quick change for Relena to go from the pirouette to the arabesque, so you've got to make sure you coupe jete en tourant your way over to her in time to help her into it."  
  
Heero nodded, catching Relena's eye. "I won't let her fall on her face."  
  
She flashed him a reassured smile although she had never been worried. "Can we try it without the music a few times, Lu?"  
  
"I'd rather you get used to having to do it in time to the..." The older woman stopped. "We have visitors."   
  
Relena glanced to the door just in time to catch the passing image of two people through the glass window that looked out into the hall before the studio door opened. Duo stepped inside first, dressed in his usual jeans and jacket. Hilde followed him in with obvious hesitation. She wore an outfit that appeared to have been chosen with special care, a long black skirt and a light blue sweater.   
  
"Hey!" Duo called out. "Sorry we're late!"  
  
"It's okay," the choreographer replied, giving her former students a welcoming smile. "Actually this might be a good point to take a five minute break."   
  
It wasn't, but she wasn't blind to Hilde's discomfort. It would be wise, she decided, to give the four young people some time to talk things out. Plus she could run upstairs to Millardo's office where he was watching their five month old son.   
  
Lucrezia started out the door. "I'll be back. Heero, Relena...don't relax too much."   
  
Once she was gone, the two couples stood in awkward silence for a few moments. It was, oddly enough, Heero who spoke first. "It must be hard for you to be here, Hilde."   
  
He had hit the source of the uncomfortable air with exact precision, and as was his way, had not hemmed, nor hawed around it. Hilde's chest tightened up for a second, but then relaxed. "Yeah. It is," she said, wistfully. "But it's getting better."   
  
"I'm holding her hand," Duo explained, proudly. He glanced around. "It all looks pretty much the same. What are you guys rehearsing again?"  
  
"It's just a little pas de deux for the Midsummer Nights of Dance," Relena said in a quiet voice, glancing down at the frayed tips of her pointe shoes. It was so strange seeing Hilde back in the studio. It threw her back in time a year to the days when she was a member of the corps doing her best to blend in, Heero was giving her the cold shoulder, and Jean-Paul haunted her nightmares.   
  
Hilde had held all the promise for a bright future then, but in the blink of an eye, it had all been turned over to Relena. And now she was a company member and she had Heero in her bed every night to run the dead Frenchman out of her dreams. She never took anything for granted. Hilde's tragedy had given her a life. Would she ever stop feeling guilty for that?   
  
"We'll have to get tickets," Hilde said a second later. Relena lifted her eyes to meet the girl's cornflower blue gaze. It was steady and warm, without anymore regret or blame. "We haven't been to the ballet in....way too long."   
  
Something passed between the two girls, a common bond of shared pains that could finally be laid to rest. Relena smiled at her old acquaintance and new friend. "Tell me about this project. I hope we can help you."   
  
By the time Lucrezia came back to the studio, all lingering tension had dissipated. Heero and Duo were standing by the barre, talking; Hilde and Relena were seated in the chairs that ran along the mirror, looking a pictures of Graham that Relena had pulled from her bag, the same ones of which every person Relena bumped into on the street got treated to a viewing. She was a very proud aunt.   
  
"Are you two ready?" Lucrezia asked Heero and Relena. The couple quickly finished up their separate conversations and joined each other at the middle of the floor. Duo walked over and took a seat next to Hilde. "All right, let's pick it up right where we left off. Heero, you're at stage left; Relena, center stage." She pointed to the pianist, back from his own break. "Andre...give them four bars to prep."   
  
As the soft notes from the piano began to flow, Duo took his girlfriend's hand. "Shouldn't you be taking notes?"  
  
"I'm just going to observe for a minute," Hilde replied, never taking her eyes away from the two dancers. "Afterwards, I'll get a little interview with Lucrezia on breaking down combinations to teach them. No problem."   
  
He squeezed her fingers. "You got it under control, babe." With that, he settled back to watch as the four bars ended and the dance commenced. Heero lept in high cope jete en tourants in a circle around Relena as she spun in perfect pirouettes on one foot. He thought he felt Hilde tense up...it wouldn't have been a surprise seeing as how the last movement she had ever made as a ballerina had been a fateful pirouette...but it was just his imagination. She seemed to be enjoying the dance.   
  
Because she was, Duo relaxed, too. He had his girl back at his side. She was able to deal with her past while looking forward to her future as a dance instructor for elementary school children, a job that allowed her to work with her passion on an ankle that could never do all the things it once could. And while he was happily living in the land of Undecided Major, he already had a ring picked out at Tiffany's that someday he would slip onto her finger.   
  
In fact, it seemed as though Heero had that same plan, only Relena's ring was on hold at Cartier's.   
  
Back on the studio floor, the dark haired cavalier reached his blonde prima ballerina just at the exact moment to hold her hand as she balanced on one perfectly sculpted leg in a gorgeous arabesque. When she gracefully dropped out of it a moment later, he continued the well-rehearsed movements and spun away a few feet.   
  
Relena smiled as she lightly, elegantly ran over to him. His arms were open and waiting, an invitation to trust him that she had no qualms taking. She let him gather her up, twist her around and hold her in a perfect fish dive.   
  
There was a smattering of applause from their tiny audience. Relena's breath came in short gasps as Heero held her in the difficult position. A moment later, she was back on her own two feet, preparing for the next combination. Heero returned her smile with a private wink.   
  
Her cheeks were flushed, her heart raced....and it had nothing to do with the dance.   
  
****  
  
"There's a passion inside, an inner strength that drives, and nobody can take that away from you. It's the greatest high, you set the floor on fire when you come alive....and we're dancing." -PYT  
  
****  
  
The End  
  
****  
****  
  
I'm not entirely sure what to say here. Everyone who has ever read or reviewed this story.....wow. Thank you seems inadequate somehow. Last March, when I was driving to my friend Melissa's house for dinner one night listening to Brandy's version of "Everything I Do...", I had this flash vision of Heero and Relena dancing. And even I rolled my eyes at myself....I won't even mention how Melissa reacted when I proposed the idea of putting Heero and Duo in black tights and making them ballet dancers.  
  
I'm overjoyed that this story struck the chord in people that it seems to have. It was completely unexpected. I hope I managed to tell a good story; that really has been my driving goal. I hope I keep doing so. As for any sequels to this story....I don't see it happening, but then, I've learned to never say never.   
  
For the last time, I give you my thanks, each and every one of you. May you all, at some point in your lives, dance;)  
  
Kristen Elizabeth  
November 14, 2002 


End file.
